The government has on Sunday responded to claims by Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho that the Jubilee government was mortgaging the county to fund the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
In a statement to the press, State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu stated that the opponents of the SGR had now resorted to propaganda and were acting as purveyors of empty rhetoric.
Esipisu stated that the government was committed to constructing a dry port in Naivasha and would go ahead with the extension of the SGR to the town.
“Obviously, some people who don’t understand basic logistics claim that the dry port will replace the seaport. It will not.
“Dry ports fasten the movement of goods from factories to their countries of destination, in countries where transport by sea, road, and rail are efficient, and our growing efficiency must be accompanied by facilities to match.
He added that the dry port in Naivasha will lead to heavy investment job creation, quicken transportation of goods and reduce the cost of production.
Governor Joho had during the launch of the SGR been barred from attending the event after he threatened to take the President to task on the inflation of monies during the construction of the project.
Joho had demanded that President Uhuru had to come clean and account for the extra Sh100 billion for the SGR that he claimed had been looted.
The governor accused the President of abetting corruption and plotting to reap the livelihoods of the residents of Mombasa by constructing a dry port in Naivasha.
The Spokesperson also addressed other government projects like the free maternity services program which had seen 119,255 deliveries in Nakuru County at a cost of Sh548.8 Million over the past four years.
Esipisu also applauded the President for putting free NHIF insurance for a year’s period for beneficiaries of the free maternity at the top of his re-election agenda.
The Spokesman was speaking during his weekly Sunday briefing which took place at Nakuru State Lodge.
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