I have no apologies for voting 'Yes', says Moha 'Jicho Pevu'

Mr Mohamed Ali, popularly known as Jicho Pevu, insisted that the now withdrawn bill had good intentions for members of his constituency, who he said would have received an additional Sh50 million in National Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) allocations.

Photo credit: Mohamed Ali | Facebook

Nyali MP Mohammed Ali says he will not apologise for siding with the majority of MPs who voted in favour of Finance Bill 2024.

Mr Ali, popularly known as Jicho Pevu, insisted that the now-withdrawn Finance Bill 2024 had good intentions for his constituents, who he said would have received an additional Sh50 million in National Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) allocations.

"I cannot apologise, I can only pray that you open your eyes and see the way so that you realise that we were fighting for more money to drive development in our regions as well as admit more students to our bursary programmes," he said.

The MP, who is the only one elected on a UDA ticket in Mombasa County, also noted that the Bill would have addressed the needs of farmers, provided additional roads as well as the hiring of the 46,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers on permanent and pensionable terms.

At the same time, he called out those demonstrating against the withdrawn Bill, alleging that they had diverted from their push for its scrapping to getting support from other political forces to frustrate the government.

He claimed that there are financiers of the chaos currently witnessed in some parts of the country who want to overthrow the government while hiding behind the Bill.

Accompanied by religious leaders, Mr Ali also told critics of the Kenya Kwanza government to wait until the 2027 general elections to elect leaders of their choice and stop using unconstitutional means to cripple the government.

"We cannot destroy our country by hiring thugs to create chaos. All politicians funding anarchy must be brought to book and if found guilty, it should be a lesson to those with selfish interests and hidden political agendas," Mr Ali added.

However, he said he supported the push by protesters who are calling on President William Ruto to kick out cabinet secretaries and other state officials involved in corrupt dealings.