Mombasa governor, Hassan Ali Joho, has lodged a scathing retaliatory attack against Deputy President, William Ruto, going to an extent of playing an audio clip of him at an Azimio La Umoja rally.
The governor accused DP Ruto of speaking from both sides of the mouth, opining that the DP does not have one stand on serious issues and keeps changing his opinion based on where he is campaigning.
Joho stated that the DP called him illiterate and claimed he lacked academic qualifications, adding that the country's second-in-command alleged lack of education is what led to the Mombasa governor fighting the relocation of port services from Mombasa to Naivasha.
In the first audio clip, the DP stated that Joho was a ruse for telling the people of Mombasa that the government had planned to move the port from the coastal city to Naivasha back in 2017.
Speaking in Kisauni Constituency, Mombasa county on Thursday, July 7, 2017, Ruto asked the crowd how possible it was to move a seaport to a place without water.
"They are cons and they are conning the people of Mombasa that the port wants to be moved to Naivasha. Is there a difference between people who never went to school and those who bought their certificates? We can't move the port to Naivasha, that will not happen," the DP stated then.
“Your governor says the Jubilee government wants to move the port to Naivasha. How can a port be transferred to a place that does not have water? He is saying that because he has little education.”
The governor played a second audio clip from a campaign rally held on May 26, 2022, where the DP was assuring the people of Mombasa that port operations will be moved back to the coastal city if he wins the elections.
DP promised to roll out a programme for the return of port operations from Naivasha and Nairobi back to Mombasa within six months if elected President in the August 9 General Election.
"That railway will open Mombasa and we will return the port operations they moved to Naivasha so that it can benefit the people of Mombasa," DP Ruto stated on Thursday, May 26, 2022, while campaigning in Mombasa.
Joho opined that Ruto was not an honest leader and the people of Mombasa cannot trust him to care about their well being since he keeps shifting goalposts and he cannot take the blame for anything he did wrong.
In 2018, Joho stated he will take the national government to court over the ‘transfer of port services’ from Mombasa to Naivasha, a move he opined would cripple the county.
