Mombasa County Governor Abdulswammad Shariff Nassir has opposed the proposed plans by top national government officials to privatize some operations at the Port of Mombasa.
Speaking during the Azimio People’s Baraza in Mombasa, Governor Nassir said that the people of Mombasa should be the direct beneficiaries of the port’s operations and warned against any attempts to privatize it.
“Just because I’m not in Parliament does not mean I don’t know what is going on… I hear they want to privatize the port and benefit personally from it. I’m the Governor, and I want to give a warning to those discussing the privatization of the port and tell them it belongs to the people of Mombasa,” said Governor Nassir.
He further called on the national government to prioritize pressing issues in the region such as the drug menace. He called on the police to crack down on illegal drugs in Mombasa, which he said was “a bigger problem than banditry”.
“Mombasa has become a danger zone for illegal drugs, we want to dare the government and the police to arrest the people involved in this menace, arrest the people destroying our children.”
The county boss also expressed his concern about the country’s direction, saying that leaders have a responsibility to restore Kenya back on track. He added that it was unacceptable that the country’s shilling was losing its value and urged people to speak up before it is too late.
“There is no way we are going to keep quiet and we are seeing our country going wayward, nobody wants bloodshed but we are going to speak up,” He said.
The proposed plans to privatize some of the container handling operations at the Port of Mombasa have sparked a division between government officials and leaders from the coast.
In 2019, efforts to privatize the Sh30 billion Container Terminal Two at the port were deemed unconstitutional by the High Court. BY DAILY NATION