County denies Sh2.7m used in renaming road
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho on February 11, 2016 during a public forum on the Eurobond issue organised by the Cord coalition. Mombasa County has denied it used Sh2.7m to rename the Nyali Bridge Road to Fidel Odinga Road. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- County's head of communication, Mr Richard Chacha, told Nation the document circulating on social media was fake.
- The document says the county’s transport and infrastructure department had budgeted Sh2,772,000 for the function.
- Joho justified renaming the road to recognise the role Fidel Odinga’s father and his family played in the country’s second liberation struggle.
The Mombasa County Government has disowned a document on the social media claiming that it spent Sh2.7 million during the renaming of the New Nyali Road to Fidel Odinga Road last month.
The county’s director of communications and public relations, Mr Richard Chacha, told the Nation that the document was fake and not from the regional government.
According to the document, which went viral days after the inauguration of the road by Cord leader Raila Odinga and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, the county had budgeted huge amounts of money for the event, which lasted only a few minutes.
The document says the county’s transport and infrastructure department had budgeted Sh2,772,000 for the function, with the bulk of the money being spent on hosting Mr Odinga during the visit.
According to the document, the county spent Sh260,000 on travel by Mr Odinga and four family members, another Sh350,000 for their hospitality, Sh80,000 for refreshments at the Moi International Airport and Sh328,000 for hotel accommodation.
The document further claims Sh654,000 was allocated for the actual renaming work, which included paintwork and the signpost. Another Sh350,000 would cater for branding, Sh450,000 for refreshments of guests and Sh300,000 for transport.
“I also saw the document, it is fake. It’s not from us. It was just a roadside thing. There was no amount of money spent by the county government,” said Mr Chacha.
SECOND LIBERATION STRUGGLE
Mr Chacha added that the document was not authentic since it does not have any signature of a county official.
“There was no budget at all for the renaming of the road,” said Mr Chacha, adding that the document is the “work of our opponents”.
Mr Joho on Tuesday justified the renaming of the road, saying the county did so in recognition of the role Fidel Odinga’s father, the opposition leader, and his family played in the country’s second liberation and in defence of human rights.
“The family has immensely supported the father during the struggle to liberate this country. Fidel is a late citizen of this country and his name for the road is timely and fit,” Mr Joho maintained during a live interview on Citizen TV from Mombasa.
The county boss distanced himself from the drug business, saying the whole issue started as a joke.
He said former American Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger used a dossier from “some funny people” linking him to the drug business.
“In Kenya, unfortunately, when you are seen to be doing well, for some reason, they have to find a thing to malign you,” he said.
