Leaders in Mombasa have castigated Governor Hassan Joho over his outburst on his alleged involvement in drugs trade and asked him to carry his own cross.
The leaders among them Senator Hassan Omar, gubernatorial aspirant Suleiman Shahbal and Council of Islamic Scholar’s said Joho has no moral authority to lecture President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto over their renewed fight against the menace and asked him to come clean on his alleged involvement in the illegal trade.
The leaders who spoke separately lashed out at Joho accusing him of baselessly playing victim and becoming a “drama-queen” in the ongoing anti-narcotics war.
Senator Omar said Joho had been linked to drug sale way before Jubilee came to power and therefore his claim that the renewed war on drug was a political witchhunt was baseless.
“He should not drag political parties and the community in his own war but should instead come clean on his alleged involvement in drug trade, his name was mentioned in the list of drug barons way before jubilee came to power,” said Omar.
However, on Wednesday, Joho denied involved in drug business and dared Jubilee government to arrest him over his alleged link to the same.
Joho accused President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto of targeting him his their renewed war against drug trafficking in Mombasa.
He said he had been cleared from accusations of being a drug lord both by police and parliament after investigations and therefore he has nothing to fear.
Yesterday, Jubilee’s gubernatorial aspirant for Mombasa County Suleiman Shahbal dismissed Joho’s claims that the anti-drugs war was triggered purposefully to target his political career and asked the governor to shun his “usual theatrics” and instead focus on his job as Mombasa Governor since nobody has accused him of dealing with drugs.
Shahbal who has remained Joho’s fiercest critic since their bruising political battle in 2013 General elections insisted that the only fact which is clear and plain in the public domain is that “the governor is guilty of having fake papers.”
“Nobody has accused the Governor of Joho of personally dealing with drugs, nobody has accused him of dealing with drugs, nobody has accused him of being a drug baron, nobody has said is dealing with drugs, selling or marketing drugs. So why is he getting all worked up about…this is a continuation of his new tactics of playing the victim and becoming a drama queen. We know we have continuously said he is guilty of having fake papers. That we know.” Said Shahbal during a presser at the Mombasa Jubilee headquarters in Nyali yesterday.
He sensationally claimed that ODM party has been a beneficiary of drug money claiming he has evidence that ODM head honchos have been whipping in and out of Mombasa to collect proceeds from drug barons to fund their political campaigns.
Omar who spoke in an interview after flagging off voter mobilization campaigns at Kizingo said political fallouts were necessary to fight those involved in the illegal business.
“I am not accusing anybody but the political fallout being witnessed is key in severing off the network that has been shielding the illegal business,” said the Senator.
He added it will be necessary to even fuel further fallout in the county’s political class so as to have proper decisions made to have the cartels uprooted.
Council of Islamic Scholars member Omar Al-Bashir said the government to move with speed and arrest drug lords in Mombasa.
According to Shahbal as a result of escalating drug business, security in Mombasa has continuously continued to deteriorate by the day noting that if the trends are left unabated the region could end up becoming another Colombia which was left a ragtag nation following the dominance of renowned drug baron- Pablo Escobar.
