Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has alleged that the push for secession by Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi is a ploy to lobby for key government positions in 2022.
He strongly opposed the secession plan noting it could lead to chaos.
Balala stated: “This is politics. People see that in 2022 they will not have positions anymore. And so they want to use the emotional secession debate to position themselves in negotiating for powerful positions.
“Let’s not be reckless in talking about secession just because we want to defy the government...It’s going to create war among us," he went on to add.
Balala accused the leaders of using marginalization as an excuse to cover up their poor performance while in office.
[caption caption="Coast leaders addressing a press briefing"]
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“When leaders fail to deliver to their people, they want to hide under the excuses of marginalization. If you do not deliver, blame yourself and make room for other leaders,” Balala stated.
He spoke at Mama Ngina Secondary School after he witnessed the opening of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination papers.
Richard Chacha, Mombasa Director of Communications and PR dismissed Balala's comments in an exclusive conversation with Kenyans.co.ke, stating: "That is his own opinion. There's no truth behind it."
Governors Joho and Kingi, Senator Stewart Madzayo and other elected Coast leaders allied to the National Super Alliance (NASA) last week announced the start of what they termed 'a consultative process' with the goal of having the Coast region secede.
A group of envoys from Britain and the European Union held a five-hour meeting with the leaders on Monday where they urged them to drop the secession plan.
[caption caption="Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi"]
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