Protests broke out in Mombasa county on Tuesday as youth gave a two-week ultimatum to Governor Ali Hassan Joho to clean up the city or vacate office.
The Mombasa youth took to the streets with placards written "Joho Must Go", blaming the Governor for poor leadership that has seen garbage collection plants within the county closed.
"Waste management in Mombasa has become a complex issue due to corruption and bad governorship," one protester, Alex Mwange, stated.
The youth also threatened to begin the process of removing Deputy Governor William Kingi from office should the garbage menace persist.
[caption caption="Anti-Joho protests in Mombasa over poor garbage disposal"]
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Mombasa Environment Executive Godfrey Nyongesa announced the closure of garbage collection agencies within the county, blaming private entities for causing the garbage pile-ups.
Mr Nyongesa ordered the unlicensed garbage collectors to cease collecting the mounds of rubbish that have since become a harbour of disease.
"Instead of taking waste to designated dumpsites, they empty them at mushrooming illegal collection points," Mr Nyongesa explained.
The Executive warned that those found operating without a licence would be arrested, charged Sh50,000 and jailed for six months.
The youth, however, dismissed claims that there were illegal operators contracted within the county.
"They closed them because they are unable to clear them. Garbage trucks have not been on site for two weeks," a protester, Mr Hamisi Mohamed, explained.
The demonstrators further demanded that county hospitals be equipped to fight diseases that have sprung up due to the poor hygiene conditions.
"We demand that all county hospitals be equipped with medicine to fight the current epidemic [chikungunya]," Mr Mohamed added.
[caption caption="Anti-Joho protests next to a garbage heap in Mombasa"]
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