Mombasa businessman-cum-politician Suleiman Shahbal has said he is not desperate to become the county’s governor as he took a swipe at former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar.
Both Omar and Shahbal have declared interest to succeed incumbent Hassan Joho.
Responding to last week’s criticism from Omar, Shahbal said he will not allow politicians to mislead Mombasa residents.
“I am not desperate to become Governor. But I am desperate to change the lives of Mombasa residents,” said Shahbal at a press briefing at a hotel in Mombasa on Thursday.
Last Sunday, Omar tore into a housing project saying it is “one of the most reckless forms of land grabbing I have ever witnessed in Mombasa.”
Calling Shahbal a hypocrite, Omar said the businessman opposed the same project in 2013.
“Nothing has changed about the project,” said Omar.
However, on Thursday, Shahbal responded saying he went to court in 2016 opposing the project because of four main reasons.
“There was no public participation then, there was no relocation allowance, there was no guarantee that the tenants will be given first priority to buy the houses and the proposal to put up 15-storey houses was only going to make them vertical slums,” said Shahbal.
He reiterated that in his 2013 and 2017 manifestos, there were plans to put up such houses for people of Mombasa to live I with dignity and affordably.
The businessman said the county government conducted a feasibility study in 2016 and wrote a report about the houses which declared the houses condemned and a new strategy proposed.
“In 2016, who was the Senator in Mombasa? Didn’t he read the report? Let us not play politics of activism,” said Shahbal.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
On Sunday, former Senator Omar said his administration, should he become governor in 2022, will construct houses for Buxton residents free of charge.
He said Shahbal should not intimidate people because he is well travelled, adding that one does not need to travel physically to get ideas from other countries.
“We can as well read about them,” said Omar.
But Shahbal said benchmarking is an essential part of leadership.
“Someone who has not even constructed a kiosk, how can they construct affordable houses for 1,900 people? He is a person who depends on political handouts,” said Shahbal.
The businessman said the Sh240,000 relocation allowance cheques will be issued to the current tenants on October 1.
On the same day, they will also be given letters that give them the right to own the new apartments that will be put up.
He said so far, over 1,000 people, including ‘politicians who are shouting loudest’, have applied to be allowed to buy the units.
“Stop your hypocrisy. You either oppose the project or support it. Don’t oppose it during the day and support it at night,” said Shahbal.
He said the youth, mostly from the neighbourhood, will at the end of October start being trained on various skills including carpentry, plumbing, electricals, security among others so as to be employed to work on the project.
In January 2021, President Uhuru and ODM chief Raila Odinga are expected to break ground for the regeneration project.
The project will have 104 shops, 200 stalls, 10 workshops, a minimum of 500 people working on the site, and 200 trucks transporting supplies to and from the site.
“These are all job opportunities. This is why Mombasa needs such investments,” said Shahbal.
He said apart from the Buxton project, which will cost Sh6 billion, there are other regeneration projects what will also be done.
The Changamwe estate will be regenerated at Sh17.5 billion, and the Likoni estate at Sh4.5 billion.
There are 10 housing estates owned by the county government and which will be regenerated.
He said Omar should have attended the September 3-5 public participation exercise instead of ‘sitting in his office then shout loudest’.
The former Senator said should he become governor, he would contact the DCI and the EACC to conduct a probe into the whole project.
However, Shahbal said all his projects have been above board.
“I have never done a corrupt deal in my life. I am not about to start now. Everything I have done is above board,” said the businessman.
He said it is easy for politicians to criticise but Mombasa needs leaders who know how to build and not how to destroy.
“Even an elephant destroys plant then dies of hunger. We are not destroying Buxton. We are building a new Buxton,” said Shahbal.