SENATOR OMARI SARAI ATTACKS GOVERNOR JOHO OVER MOMBASA COUNTY

Senator of mombasa Omari Sarai during the holy day of  ramadhan

By David Muli

Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar has reignited his rivalry with Governor Hassan Ali Joho. The Wiper Democratic Movement secretary general also criticized ODM leader Raila Odinga for accepting a recent invitation by Mr. Joho to distribute bursaries in Mombasa.

 Mr. Omar declared that a time had come for the Coast to chart its own political future to achieve its goals and interests. The legislator, who has in the past been accused of stunning the Opposition from within, said Mr Raila should not have attended the function where Sh101 million was distributed to 10,000 needy students because the governor wanted to exploit it for political capital. "If Raila told (President) Uhuru Kenyatta not to come here and distribute title deeds, then Joho has no right to invite him to give bursaries each of Sh6, 000," Omar said.

 He suggested chiefs ought to have distributed the bursary cheques. Omar launched the attack on Sunday, a day after Raila and several CORD leaders including Machakos Senator Johnston Muthama (Wiper) visited Kilifi.

 Joho has refrained from directly replying to his friend-turned-foe. The county chief has often used proxies and spokesmen to depict Omar as temperamental. He had accused the senator of trying to promote his gubernatorial bid through insults because he was unable to demonstrate that he can be a better governor. Joho is away in Mecca and has avoided political squabbles during the holy month of Ramadhan. "There are those who are boasting that they are indispensable within certain political parties but I want to ask you from ODM if anyone has benefited from this (county) government," Omar said. He said those expecting Joho to run for the presidency in 2022 and win were hallucinating.