Joho threatens to sue govt over families displaced by SGR
Mombasa County Governor Hassan Joho with his deputy Hazel Katana (left) and KCB Foundation Chairperson Catherine Kola during the launch of a Sh20million fishing vessel — MV Mombasa 001 at the Old Port in Old Town on November 25, 2016. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Joho, speaking during the launch of mv Mombasa 001 vessel at the Old Town Port, said this was as a result of trying the option of talks that was not listened to by those concerned.
- He blamed his woes on the Transitional Authority that dismissed their legislation as ‘unconstitutional and illegal’ after passing a Bill targeting to charge Sh500 ($5) a tonne of cargo handled at the port.
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has said he will sue the national government to compel it to compensate fishermen displaced by construction of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
Mr Joho said attempts to talk to the national government have been ignored.
“We will demand compensation for fishermen who were made jobless by construction of the SGR and Dongo Kundu economic zone,” he said when he launched a deep fishing vessel to boost fishing in the county.
He said the county also wanted the government to make public the agreement between the Kenya Ports Authority, SGR and Ministry of Transport on the repayment mode of the construction loan.
“The people of this county have a right to know how the project will transform their lives,” he said at Mombasa’s Old Town Port during the function to unveil the 10-tonne vessel the county built for fishermen named MV Mombasa 001.
The governor said he was not opposed to the SGR project but accused the national government of “dilly-dallying on paying the suffering fishermen compensation”.
Mr Joho added that the county would also seek the court’s intervention over sharing of revenue with the Kenya Ports Authority.
He warned the national government and the authority to prepare for a “titanic legal battle”, saying no port in the world worked without the leadership of the area.
“For example, 70 per cent of Rotterdam in the Netherlands belongs to the city administration, 100 per cent of Long Beach in New York belongs to the municipality while Shanghai is fully owned by the city authority. Why are we being denied our share here?” he asked.
He blamed his woes on the Transitional Authority that dismissed their legislation as ‘‘unconstitutional and illegal’’ after passing a Bill targeting to charge Sh500 ($5) a ton of cargo handled at the port.
Jomvu MP Badi Twalib (Wiper) criticised the national government’s move to transfer the Dry Port to Naivasha saying that would kill the port city of Mombasa in terms of its economic growth.
Meanwhile, Mr Joho called for a lifestyle audit for all politicians irrespective of their affiliation and asked the Jubilee Administration to get an international audit firm to do that job.
“I Hassan Joho, I am ready to face the auditors but they should start with the Deputy President William Ruto,’’ he said.
