Mombasa MCAs scoff at Nkaissery over audit remarks

Members of the Mombasa County Assembly have scoffed at Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery over his call on Tuesday that the county be audited over the use of Sh32 billion it has received since 2013.

They warned the minister to desist from engaging in politics and instead concentrate on his mandate of providing security to citizens.

Addressing a press conference at the assembly yesterday, the ward representatives urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to fire Mr Nkaissery over what they see as his failure to stop terrorism and escalating insecurity in the country.

Finance committee chairman Mohamed Hatimy dismissed Mr Nkaissery’s claims as “baseless and pure lies”.

“The county government of Mombasa has only received a total of Sh13.45 billion since the inception of devolution. We received Sh3.05 billion, Sh4.7 billion and Sh5.7 billion during the first, second and third year amounting to Sh13.45 billion,” he said.

Mr Hatimy said the county has already appeared before the Senate and has been cleared of all audit queries.

“If the Jubilee government gave Sh32 billion to Mombasa County, Mr Nkaissery should tell us where the other billions went since he sits in the Cabinet. Otherwise he has no business poking his nose in Mombasa County affairs and money issues.

"According to the Constitution this issue falls under the dockets of the Commission on Revenue Allocation, Senate, Treasury, controller of budget, auditor-general and the National Assembly, not Internal Security”, said Mr Hatimy.

In a statement he read to the press, Mr Hatimy said that with a wage bill of Sh4.7 billion for 5,200 staff, the county has had to employ “prudent management and tough spending” measures to survive in the early years.

Kipevu Ward Representative Ibrahim Kondo warned Mr Nkaissery against involving himself in politics, saying the Constitution bars it.

“He is not allowed to talk politics as CS. Let him concentrate on his security docket. We are surprised that he came for something else and deviated into politics”, he said.

He said Mr Nkaissery should have visited the Changamwe Police Station to console officers following the death of the OCPD and later visited Mandera, where 12 Kenyans were killed by suspected Al-Shabaab militants "instead of peddling cheap politics at the Akamba Handicraft in Mombasa”.

On Tuesday, during a tour of the Akamba Handicraft Centre, Mr Nkaissery criticized Mr Joho and ODM party leader Raila Odinga, saying they had failed Coast residents.

He said the county government had nothing to show for the more than Sh32 billion it has received from the exchequer for the past three years.

He was responding to concerns by area MP Omar Mwinyi, who said the national government had sidelined Mombasa County, resulting in underdevelopment.