Mombasa Governor, Ali Hassan Joho, rode on the success of President Uhuru Kenyatta's mega-project launch in Mombasa, days after he was fiercely criticised over the looming job losses in his county.
On Friday, October 18, President Kenyatta attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the development of the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Mombasa.
The head of state asserted that the SEZ would transform the coastal region.
In October 2019, Mombasa residents demonstrated against a controversial order requiring traders to move all their cargo through the Standard Gauge Railway to an inland container depot in Nairobi, effectively rendering truckers jobless.
Observers held that Mombasa’s economy which gravitates around the port was under threat in what they described as a slow and painful death.
On Thursday, October 3, Transport CS James Macharia announced the suspension of the order forcing traders to transport cargo using the SGR. This was after Joho was forced to intervene.
He held a crisis meeting with officials from the State Department of Interior and Coordination, the State Department of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Railways and Kenya Revenue Authority.
On Friday, October 18, Joho, however, informed coastal residents that Dongo Kundu SEZ was a bigger and better deal.
He calmed the residents stating that loss of the port jobs would be offset by the Dongo Kundu project, once completed.
"There is a need to diversify our economy. We should analyse new criteria to improve our economy. Let's not get stuck in quagmires. Dongo Kundu will be ten times bigger than Mombasa Port. We are obligated to prepare ourselves to be able to benefit from this magnificent project
"This project will most definitely be a socio-economic game-changer for Mombasa. The special economic zone (SEZ) will not only transform Mombasa into a regional value addition hub, but also do the same to the entire country through an export-based economy," Joho stated.
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