JP Coast coordinator Faridh Swaleh at a past function. Photo/ the-star.co.ke
A section of Jubilee party members have accused Mombasa gubernatorial aspirant Suleiman Shahbal of bullying them.
The leaders claim that the Jubilee point man is behind the defacing of a building opposite the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC).
The members also said the office set up by Jubilee is inaccessible to persons residing in Lamu, Likoni and other areas in the Western part of the county.
Led by Faridh Swaleh, the JP Coast coordinator, the leaders said Shabhal has shown that he is not ready to listen to the needs of other leaders in the party.
Swaleh said she had proposed for a centrally located building but Shahbal dismissed her only to send workers to repaint an office in Nyali that he is said to have single-handedly set up.
“We scouted for an office for eight months and finally found a vacant house. We signed an agreement with the house agent and paid Sh240, 000 six-month rent,” said Swaleh.
However, Mombasa JP chair Matano Chengo defended Shabhal over the bullying allegations, arguing that the house belongs to his (Shahbal) uncle, and was rented through an agent.
He added that the uncle had no clue that Shahbal had rented the house to the Jubilee party.
“The uncle called Shahbal, asking him why he was risking his house by painting it in Jubilee colours. He asked it to be repainted white,” said Matano.
“Shahbal has nothing to do with this. He has no control over that property. Faridh Swaleh and his group should stop tarnishing Shahbal’s name,” he added, as quoted by The Star.
Swaleh also lamented that she has spent close to Sh3 million on establishing the office despite not vying for any elective post in the forthcoming general polls.
“I’m saddened by this act. I’m not vying for any political seat in the region, but I have been financing some party activities in the region. Shahbal has already started war with other members before he is even elected, people are now preferring Ananiah Mwaboza to him,” she said.