Joho: Why I rejected government security
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has said he rejected the five administration police officers deployed to guard him because they had been instructed to spy on him and plant firearms in his residence.
He sensationally accused the government of plotting to assassinate him, some of his supporters and some opposition leaders in Mombasa .
“People have been asking why I rejected the officers sent to guard me. I am privy to credible intelligence that they were sent to do two things. First, to sneak illegal weapons into my residence and secondly, to monitor my movements and listen to my communications. However, God has helped us to know that plot in advance,” the governor told a rally in Mombasa called to mobilise residents to register for voting.
DENIED ACCESS
The new security officers were deployed to Mr Joho’s Nyali residence last week but they were denied access and forced to spend two days idling outside the posh residence on Jamhuri Road, a few metres from the Nyali Police Station.
The county’s director of communications Richard Chacha explained that the governor had since vacated the residence, “to a more secure one’’ following the withdrawal of his security detail before the five new ones were redeployed.
On Monday evening, Mr Joho told his supporters that his decision to deny the police officers entry to his residence was because he had been told the officers wanted to plant illegal firearms in the house, have a raid stage-managed to recover them and then have him arrested.
“Instead of allowing me to pick the officers I would be comfortable to work with, they attempted to force those of their choice on me,” he told the rally outside the County Assembly Hall, attended by MPs Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita), Rashid Bedzimba (Kisauni), Badi Twalib (Jomvu) and Omar Mwinyi of Changamwe.
“They have plotted to kill some leaders and innocent youths in this town on framed-up criminal activities. They have met at Uhuru na Kazi building (where Coast regional commissioner Nelson Marwa’s offices are) to discuss that scheme. If you hear someone has been shot dead, you should come out for mass action to demand justice,” said Mr Joho.
DRUG TRAFFICKING
He added: “I know there are some National Intelligence Service officers here with voice recorders. Please, record everything I am saying. The echo of my voice must go towards that Uhuru na Kazi building, where they are planning everything. We want to tell them we shall not be cowed.”
The governor accused the government of linking him and his friends to drug trafficking, claiming that police knew “the real drug barons responsible for the huge influx of deadly drugs that has reduced thousands of our youths to zombies.’’
“It is clear to me that Jubilee is facilitating drug trafficking in the county and that is why they are accusing the wrong people,” he claimed.
He vowed to operate without government security, saying his security “is in the hands of God and Mombasa residents.’’
“If they want to eliminate me for being a fiery critic of the Jubilee government so be it. I wish to state that if they kill me at 11am, make sure I am buried by 1pm and all of you should immediately move with this liberation onwards,” he said.
