Drama expected in Mombasa tomorrow as Governor Hassan Joho hosts NASA in parallel rallies with Jubilee (Details)

Mombasa will host parallel Jubilee and ODM rallies on Sunday as campaigns ahead of the August 8 polls gather steam. ODM’s will take place at Tononoka grounds and Jubilee’s at Mvita grounds, about 4km away. Both venues are in Mvita constituency.

The ODM team will be led by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, whose recent rallies have ended in disarray.
But Joho told journalists in Mombasa on Friday that he was happy that Jubilee was trying its luck in the county.
“We are comfortable with their rally. In fact, we encourage them to hold it. We want to show Jubilee how democratic Mombasa is,” said the Governor.
“I am very happy. Let them hold their rally in Mvita,” he also said shortly after inspecting the venue. He added that they will not disrupt it.
ODM’s rally is the culmination of its Coast tours. The Governor said the party will make a declaration on the way forward.
Only Raila Odinga has been invited, Joho said. Other NASA principals will not attend.
The county chief castigated Lamu county commissioner Joseph Kanyiri for condemning them for holding a political rally.
He termed Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa a desk officer saying he had attempted to limit his movement.
“How can he tell me not to politick elsewhere in the country apart from Mombasa. That is old-fashioned,” he said.
Jubilee governor aspirant Suleiman Shahbal said today that they will use their meeting to rally support for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s party in the region.
The Jubilee team said Shahbal’s running mate Ananiah Mwaboza will also attend but that no national leaders will be there.
It was said that the meeting “will purely be a Mombasa affair”.
A series of cancelled ODM rallies
ODM’s rally that was to take place alongside Jubilee’s Tononoka meeting on March 12 was not held, the party’s Mombasa chairman Mohamed Hatimy claiming police refused to provide security.
During an inspection of the venue the previous day, Shahbal said their goal was to end Joho’s Sultan rule.
“It will be the beginning of the change we have been waiting for in Mombasa. We are staring at the final liberation of Mombasa. We are getting rid of all the nonsense,” he said after inspecting the venue accompanied by supporters.
The politician added that residents were tired of “politics of dancing and insulting national leaders”.
He said police are to acknowledge receiving their notification, not grant them permission to old their rallies.
Makupa OCS John Owuoth said there weren’t enough officers as Prophet Owuor also had a meeting that day.
The OCS also said ODM failed to notify them in time; he said the party informed them about 24 hours to the rally yet the requirement is for a 72-hour allowance.
But Joho refuted this saying Owuoth told them: “Noted. Acknowledged [and] received. Permission granted. Law and order be maintained.”
“Police cannot license picketing or political rallies,” he said, adding they expect security to be provided but that ODM supporters will guard themselves should this not be the case.
“There is a new trend by Jubilee to disrupt our meetings through police. Police are now Jubilee’s new wing.”
On Sunday last week, ODM leaders had to flee from Mpeketoni after residents pelted them with mangoes and stones. The riotous group accused Governor Joho of disrespecting President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In Kinango town, Kwale, on Thursday, an Orange Party rally was cancelled minutes before Joho and other politicians arrived.
GSU officers lobbed tear gas canisters and shot in the air to clear the supporters, saying the venue had been booked for a public baraza that Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya was reportedly to attend.
Organisers have blamed the “undue interference” on quarters out to scuttle the Opposition.