Msa. comms director defends Joho after the governor is attacked over his lifestyle

Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho’s penchant for frequent trips abroad and flashy lifestyle has been faulted, with Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) claiming the county chief is living his life in the fast lane, yet his constituents are being choked with poor services.

MUHURI chairperson, Khelef Khalifa, on Thursday told K24 Digital that the governor often uses the taxpayers’ money for his many trips abroad.

In his own words, Khalifa said Joho “misuses Kenyans’ money in visiting countries such as Dubai, the US and Tanzania to get entertained by musicians”.

“Joho hardly lives in Mombasa. The only aspect of him which remains in Mombasa is his name. He is always out of the country being entertained by Bongo musicians. And when he is not in Tanzania, the governor is in the United States dancing alongside Hip-hop artistes,” said Khalifa.

The MUHURI lead agent said unemployment among the youth, poverty and crime rates in Mombasa continue to soar “as the governor embezzles the taxpayers’ money on foreign trips”.

“Honestly, when he is away, do you expect the crime rates in Mombasa to reduce? The governor is using money meant to support the welfare of the youth in his regular foreign tours,” alleged Khalifa.

Hakinet Human Rights Initiative coordinator, Michael Magail, said the governor has developed a penchant for showing off, yet the people who voted for him are “suffering”.

Magail cited Joho’s proclivity for highly-expensive wrist watches, sneakers and T-shirts as “the lifestyle of a leader that should attract being frowned upon”.

“There are many stalled projects in Mombasa that the governor has never updated us on when they’ll be completed. In the recent years, he toured different parts of Mombasa promising to complete the projects, but today, they have all stalled,” said Magail.

The Joho criticism arose Thursday, February 20, after Khalifa and Magail addressed various stakeholders during the Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA) convention. KCA held the event in collaboration with DW Akademie. The theme of the convention was access to information in Mombasa.

Magail’s and Khalifa’s remarks were faulted by Mombasa County Director of Communications, Richard Chacha, who claimed that Joho funds his foreign trips from his own pocket, and not the taxpayers’ coffers.

“As we are speaking, the governor is in Israel. He paid for that trip using his own funds. They’re claiming he is hardly in Mombasa, but I do not remember him going on any foreign trip in 2020 besides the Israel one. Last year, he only travelled to the United States once. Considering his expenses as governor are funded by the County Government, it would be easy for one to prove his spending,” Chacha told K24 Digital.

On allegations that Joho spends public money on his looks, Chacha said: “He is a rich man, there’s no doubt about that. His penchant for expensive clothes and wrist watches can never be extinguished. And, given he is using his own money on the personal items, there is no crime, whatsoever, in that.”

On several occasions, the governor has been pictured wearing expensive wrist watches, including a Hublot Big Bang Rose gold whose price is estimated at KSh2.1 million.

In September 2019, Joho was pictured in customised Louis Vuitton ‘Now Yours’ sneakers valued at Ksh344, 000. That came exactly two years after he was spotted wearing Louis Vuitton sneakers worth Ksh92, 000.

In January 2020, the county chief made headlines, again, over his taste for expensive dressing, after he was spotted in a black rainbow colour short-sleeved Versace T-shirt which sold for at least Ksh55, 000.