Joho wins praise for standing up to the President

President Uhuru Kenyatta gazed in consternation as Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko went for each other’s jugular, blighting a solemn occasion that was meant to issue land titles to the squatters of Waitiki Farm.

But one thing stood out in the ensuing rigmarole between the politicians last week – the governor’s knack for reproaching Mr Kenyatta for “sneaking into his territory” without giving him recognition.

It earned him instant admiration from friends and some foes alike with his supporters saying he was able to disarm both President and the senator who came across as prepared for an all-out clash.

(READ: Joho protests Uhuru plan to distribute Waitiki title deeds)

“Mr President you come to this great county, stay for 16 days and the governor has not spoken a word to you. It is not right. It is not fair. All I would want is say welcome and go my way,” he said, attracting applause from the audience.

The seemingly irrepressible senator could not however let this pass, “Joho and his ilk cannot match us in a popularity contest. What we are demanding for as the government of the day is total respect for the President. We will not allow Joho to talk at the President and get away with it.”

Again to Mr Joho retorted: “Sisi ni wangwana, hatulipi matusi wala hatuna matusi (We are gentle people, we do not insult our aggressors back).

STATE HOUSE RESPONSE

On Saturday, State House responded with a salvo.

“If the governor is idle – as his actions and expletives perfectly show – that is his business. President Kenyatta has work to do for the people of the Coast and the entire country.

The people of Kenya have no time for theatrics, myopia and hearsay,” said a spokesman, Mr Munyori Buku.

The ODM brigade was full of praise for Mr Joho. The response was that of a general who did not disappoint at the most critical hour.

“Be assured we watched Governor Ali Hassan Joho take a stand in Mombasa against a bullying and corrupt government that has a billion for every turncoat.

We assure the governor we noticed his principled stand and we don’t take it lightly. It takes guts and faith in what Kenya can be to stand up against a moneyed, rejuvenated children of Kanu,” ODM party leader Raila Odinga’s spokesman Dennis Onyango said.

DEMOCRACTIC SPACE

The incident at Shika Adabu grounds in Likoni is also seen by pundits as a plus to the country’s democracy.

They argue that the fact that Mr Joho was able to stand up to the President without fear of reprisal is a sign that devolution was not only good for service delivery to the grassroots but also for opening up the democratic space.

The resolute governor is a battle hardened politician whose rise to the helm of the coastal politics has been in many aspects meteoric.

For the 39-year-old who made his debut in elective politics in 2007 representing Kisauni constituency, few would have thought that five years later, he would be the boss of one of the most important cosmopolitan counties in the country.

There is a general agreement that he exploited a power vacuum left after the death of former minister and influential Mombasa politician Karisa Maitha in 2004.

Last year, under a group dubbed “team fresh” that also had the likes of Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba, he led a campaign to wrest control of ODM from the old guard, a push that ended in botched primaries after “the men in black” disrupted the exercise.

He would later be named deputy party leader alongside Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.