Board appointments evoke mixed reactions from residents
Kilifi Women Rep Aisha Jumwa, flanked by Cord leaders, addresses a crowd outside Huduma Centre in Mombasa on January 27, 2016. She has dismissed the appointments of some coastal leaders saying the president is trying to fool residents. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- He criticised local ODM leaders for using a funeral to make an issue of the appointments.
- Mung'aro said the Jubilee government had appointed more local people than the PM did during his tenure, although he was overwhelmingly voted for by Coast residents.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to appoint various coastal leaders to parastatal boards has sparked mixed reactions from rival politicians.
On Sunday, a former Cabinet minister and one of the beneficiaries, Mr Noah Katana Ngala, said working for the government in power was not a sin.
“This is not my first time to work with the government. And me working for it does not affect your political beliefs,” said Mr Ngala, the Kenya National Library Services board chairman.
He criticised local ODM leaders for using a funeral to make an issue of the appointments.
At the burial of Nominated MCA Grace Mbodza at Mbongoni Primary School on Saturday, Aisha Jumwa, Kilifi Woman Representative and Coalition for Reforms and Democracy member, dismissed the appointments as a trick on residents.
“He (President) is appointing these leaders to hoodwink us into supporting Jubilee in next year’s General Election,” she said.
But Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro countered by accusing the Oppositions's leadership of thriving on lies to consolidate its dwindling support in the region.
“When you see leaders using funeral occasions to propagate their divisive agenda, just know one thing they lack is an agenda for Kenyans and this country,” he said at Bahari Beach Hotel on Sunday.
He challenged former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to tell the Coast people who else, apart from Najib Balala and Amason Kingi, he appointed to the grand coalition government.
He said the Jubilee government had appointed more local people than the PM did during his tenure, although he was overwhelmingly voted for by Coast residents.
Former Mombasa municipal councillor and ODM supporter Mr Abdulhamid Abdulrahman said even if Jubilee appointed all the Coast leaders, it would not positively affect its political chances in the region.
