William Ruto allies in Coast lash out at Hassan Joho

Coast lawmakers supporting Deputy President William Ruto’s presidential bid have trained their guns on Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.

The legislators, led by Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori, accuse Mr Joho of being a lone ranger and taking other elected leaders in the six Coast counties for granted.

Over the past week, the MPs have held meetings in Mombasa, Tana River and Kilifi counties during which they have attacked Mr Joho, accusing him of imposing himself on Coast residents.

Mr Dori, viewed by his colleagues as Mr Ruto’s point man in the region given his position as chairman of the Coast Parliamentary Group (CPG), led the anti-Joho onslaught, accusing the self-proclaimed ‘Sultan’ of failing to consult fellow leaders.

“We cannot listen to you everyday as if you are the only one who understands everything. You must listen to us because we are also leaders and can do all that you can do. We cannot sit down and watch someone who is just interested in having things go his way plan for us,” Mr Dori said this week, referring to Mr Joho’s planned meetings to unite Coast residents.

CAMPAIGN MODE

The MPs, who were previously allied to Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga, have since shifted allegiance to Mr Ruto.

The pro-Ruto MPs have for the past week traversed the region drumming up support for him.

Today, the MPs will be at Baraza Park in Kombani, Kwale County, where they will be hosted by area MP Kassim Tandaza.

“We will have all the MPs under the CPG converging at the function. We were in Tana River yesterday (Thursday) and tomorrow, we will be in my area,” Mr Tandaza, the Matuga MP said.

He added: “We will be donating money for women groups but as you know we are politicians and we must do some politics in our functions.”

On Thursday, the legislators stepped up their push for the region’s unity as they called on Tana River residents to back Mr Ruto.

LONE RANGER

The MPs’ meeting in Tana River came a day after they attended a cultural event hosted by Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi in his county where they continued with the tirade against Mr Joho.

Before heading to Kilifi, the more than 10 legislators were in Jomvu, Mombasa, where they were hosted by area MP Badi Twalib.

Here, they took turns to castigate Mr Joho, accusing him of being a lone ranger.

Mr Joho who is currently in London, the United Kingdom, has downplayed the criticism by the pro-Ruto group.

“I am not worried about dissenting voices because for now I am reaching out to the rest of the country. I want to be a national leader. But Coast is fully in ODM. Just find out from the grassroots,” he said during a recent interview with a local TV station.

Mr Joho however enjoys the support of a section of the region’s MPs, notably Mvita’s Abdulswamad Nassir, his Likoni counterpart Mishi Mboko, Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe) and Kaloleni’s Paul Katana.