Mwakwere faulted at ODM rally

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi on Sunday led five ODM ministers and six MPs in campaign rallies to drum up support for Mr Hassan Mohammed Mwanyoha in the July 12 Matuga by-election.

Mr Mudavadi, who is also the Local Government minister, appealed to residents “not to let down the party” and elect Mr Mwanyoha “by a landslide vote and not by a narrow margin”.

Mr Mudavadi conveyed Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s apologies at public rallies at Ngombeni, Kombani, Kwale and Tiwi areas, asking residents to pray for his quick recovery.

“Show your strength and authority on July 12 to elect a serving leader .On behalf of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, we ask you to elect Mwanyoha and boost our number in Parliament,” he said.

In campaigning for Mr Mwanyoha, Lands minister James Orengo promised to tackle the thorny land issue facing residents.

He accused former Transport minister Ali Mwakwere of failing to cooperate with his ministry in allocating land and issue title deeds to farmers.

Title deeds

“We have frozen issuance of title deeds in Lamu to safeguard Bajuni people, whose land is being taken away by outsiders. We stopped questionable land deals in Malindi where our officers were allocating land meant for residents.

“In Kisauni, we repossessed Khadija Primary School land that had been grabbed. All this is because area MPs had raised the plight with my ministry and we addressed it. But I have not heard of problems in Ngombeni settlement scheme,” said Mr Orengo.

Medical Services minister Anyang’ Nyong’o promised to address health issues affecting residents and urged them to elect Mr Mwanyoha, saying he had a development agenda for the electorates.

He also claimed Mr Mwakwere had not brought to his attention health matters that ought to be addressed. East Africa Cooperation minister Amason Kingi blamed Mr Mwakwere for lack of unity in the Coast Parliamentary Group.

Environment and Natural Resources assistant minister Ramadhan Kajembe assured Ngombeni residents of government’s commitment to opening access roads to beaches shut by foreign investors.

“Although Mwakwere’s son married my own daughter, I have taken a firm stand to support Mwanyoha in the interest of Matuga people, who are lagging behind in development,” he said.

Information and Communication assistant minister Dhadho Godhana, MPs Gideon Mung’aro (Malindi) and Omar Zonga (Msambweni), and National Muslims Advisory Council chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao blamed Mr Mwakwere for sacking of key government officials from the Coast.