Mvurya plays cards close to chest as he skips Mombasa rally

Caught between the wrath of his new-found allies and mockery of his old friends, Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya could not attend the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) rally in Mombasa on Saturday. 

So, as his five counterparts at the coast were busy at the Mama Ngina Waterfront, Mr Mvurya was launching development projects and updating his followers on his official Facebook page on the same.

However, people close to the governor confided to Nation that the county boss has been avoiding being caught in the midst of a controversy surrounding the BBI.

Sources revealed that the governor, being a “silent” supporter of Deputy President William Ruto, and since he does not want to be in bad books with President Kenyatta, decided to “play it safe”.

“We all know that if you publicly support the DP, there will be hell to pay within the Jubilee Party. For that reason, the governor has seen it wise to stay away from BBI politics,” said the source within the governor’s office.

“We’ve agreed to champion the BBI campaign across the 20 wards of Kwale as leaders. This is a unifying process and we urge our people to read and understand the BBI document and give their input when the time comes,” Mr Mvurya said on a Facebook post on January 22. 

He made the remarks after commissioning a Sh26 million street lighting project in Ukunda/Diani.  He held the event a day before the other governors held a press briefing to update on the preparations for the BBI rally.

During the press conference at Tononoka grounds, which was the initial venue for the rally, Kwale senator Issa Boy said he was representing Mr Mvurya and assured that he would join the other leaders the following day at the Wild Waters Centre.

At the venue in Nyali, a seat was reserved for Mr Mvurya, but again, he did not show up. Instead, Nation learnt that the governor attended a meeting at Msambweni Hospital where a crisis had been reported.

On Saturday when the other five governors converged with other leaders for the rally led by opposition  leader Raila Odinga, Mr Mvurya was opening an Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) centre in Magogoni. Senator Boy, again when he took to the stage at the rally, assured the crowd that Kwale people were fully behind the BBI.

“Do not see that the Kwale people are not fully represented. We have many leaders here and we are going to move together,” said Mr Boy.

His remarks were in an apparent reference to Mr Mvurya’s absence at the event with details now showing that the governor skipped the event deliberately.

Mr Mvurya, through his communications director Daniel Nyassy, expressed support for the BBI, saying it would bring resources closer to the people.

“That is the major reason why he is supporting it. Secondly, it is unifying Kenyans,” Mr Nyassy said. 

Speaking to Nation on phone, Mr Nyassy said the Kwale County boss has been preaching about peace in the devolved unit in order to secure tourism.

“Kwale has a huge tourism sector, which is delicate and needs sustained peace. Any form of violence negatively affects the sector,” he said.

In September last year, Mr Mvurya was among leaders who snubbed Deputy President Ruto during his last political tour to the region with sources pointing out that the governor did so to avoid “controversy”.​