MOMBASA IS A MESS.

[Mjuaji]

By GITAU WARIGI

SUN JULY 3. 2016

Mombasa is popularly portrayed as the gateway to Kenya. It needs serious improvement, though. It is a dirty, disorganised town with buildings that cry out for coats of paint and streets clogged with tuk-tuks. Even the beaches are a mess.

Sure, there is history in the place. Too much of it. But can somebody do something about that pile called Fort Jesus? For some reason, the coral the thing is made of is eroding fast.
The land issue that crops up whenever the Coast is discussed remains potent. Yet the manner it is discussed tends to lose focus when it is mixed up with incendiary politics. The truth of the matter is that the biggest landowners are Arab-Swahili families.

Names like Swaleh Nguru keep cropping up. Driving to North Coast toward Kilifi, one sees stretches of acreage owned by the Mazrui family. The Waitiki Farm controversy was a side issue. The biggest chunks of land are not owned by upcountry people.

It is outrageous that locals—here I mean Mijikenda—still don’t own title to the land they squat on. That intolerable situation has prevailed since Independence. It is only now that the government has started to issue the titles. The process needs to be fast-tracked.

Businesswise, the locals don’t seem to feature also. The big players are Asian, Arab and Kikuyu. Mijikenda are marginal. The taxi guy I operate with (a Kamba) has a snide way of saying the locals sell madafu and lessos. I told him off on that. Somali people are strong in wholesaling in the town. Upcountry people control the nerve centre called Kongowea market, which they complain Governor Ali Hassan Joho has neglected.

DOMINATED BY ARAB FAMILIES

The bus transport business to Nairobi and Malindi and elsewhere is firmly dominated by Arab-Swahili families. However, the Chania company of Thika has intruded into the business. I hear they have even splintered into several entities. For some reason I can’t fathom, the lucrative vehicle import business is controlled by people of Pakistani ancestry.

Governor Joho needs to tackle as a priority the issue of Mijikenda lack of empowerment. He operates like upcountry people are the problem. Sort of like if they are kicked out Mombasa would be a haven. To the contrary, the upcountry folk create jobs.

The Arab-Swahili community the governor belongs to tends to be too ensconced in its comfort zone to accept the bigger reality of poverty and marginalisation in Mombasa and the larger Coast region. This is where he should focus on, not opening up fancy parks or flagging off fire-fighting trucks.

First of all, he should radically increase the quota of Mijikenda jobs in the County government.

My good friend Senator Hassan Omar wants to dislodge the governor next year. I wish him success, though I hear it will not be easy. Both have links to the Mijikenda majority. But they are distrusted by the upcountry crowd. Still, the latter, despite their big numbers, are best served by letting locals run the politics.

A final thing: Mombasa tends to be too compartmentalised for its own good. Nairobi is more cosmopolitan and the different sorts mix easier than in Mombasa. The Arab-Swahili largely keep to themselves. The Asians too. Kamba have their bars. Kikuyus and Luos likewise. There is not much social intermingling. That is not good for a town that boasts of being the gateway to our country.

[Mjuaji]

There is no doubt Warigi is a tribalist. Ignore it.

[mukuna]

[ATTACH=full]46840[/ATTACH]
Locals with their mnazi and promiscuity.

[Meria_Mata]

Mombasa ina wenyewe

[vuja_de]

@Mjuaji

The taxi guy I operate with (a Kamba)

kasee @kingolonde

[Da_Vinci]

I will not tolerate anyone who cites tuktuks whenever they want to show how Mombasa is bad. Not at all! Talk of garbage or buildings needing painting, but tuktuks? They are noisy and all, but it will be blasphemy if they are classified as filth!

[shocks]

Kambas are big on the tourist seen, several places I’ve stayed, the taxi guy/local fixer was a kao, he would organise everything from weed, mnazi etc

[FieldMarshal_CouchP]

@Mjuaji

There is no doubt Warigi is a tribalist.

Every Kiuk is, so that’s news.

[Da_Vinci]

But, really, what is the writer of this shit talking about? What’s new in this article? Alikosa material za kuandika? Ama Perhaps alikuwa anatumia smartphone badala ya laptop!

[faka_d]

Mombasa is degrading and fast,too bad joho is so focused on his own carreer on the national level and pissing matches with marwa to care about improving his backyard.He had the perfect opportunity to empower coastal natives but like others he chose not to.He even campaigned on some of the issues named above but like it always happens more often than not he forgot his promises.
Having been born n brought up there,i can tell you first hand that the natives are poor,uneducated and primitive to a point that i feel for them.They really need a leader who will empower them with lots of civil education.They are really behind economically n socially.

i remember afew years back i would drive my family to some remote part called mwakirunge and hand out food stuff and in appreciation the people there would do some traditional dances.and thats an area that is atmost 20mins drive from the cbd.

[Creature]

Mombasa lacks a leader, since Karisa Maitha died no one has stood up to fill his position, he was the last hope for the region locals.

I suspect arab-swahili funded MRC, hii ndio maana nampa Uhuru kura, i would hate the arab-swahili to control the port…

The locals are a hopeless bunch, walk around and you’ll notice that the daily tasks such as distributing bread,milk, water all are done by kambas hata kuuza maji ya chupa,

[Meria_Mata]

@MISCHIEF Njoo teke teke

[MISCHIEF]

@Meria Mata

@MISCHIEF Njoo teke teke

Hahahah lucky enough mm ni mtu wa Kilifi…Mombasa ina wenyewe…mm huenda kama mtalii huko

[gapcrew]

Devolution was not well thought… regional tribalism ndio walipromote…I hope wangesema any person can be elected in any county as a governor regardless of the tribe…but job allocation ikuwe a big percentage goes to the locals …hapo Mombasa ingeokolewa kiasi

[Simiyu22]

@Mjuaji

By GITAU WARIGI

SUN JULY 3. 2016

Mombasa is popularly portrayed as the gateway to Kenya. It needs serious improvement, though. It is a dirty, disorganised town with buildings that cry out for coats of paint and streets clogged with tuk-tuks. Even the beaches are a mess.

Sure, there is history in the place. Too much of it. But can somebody do something about that pile called Fort Jesus? For some reason, the coral the thing is made of is eroding fast.
The land issue that crops up whenever the Coast is discussed remains potent. Yet the manner it is discussed tends to lose focus when it is mixed up with incendiary politics. The truth of the matter is that the biggest landowners are Arab-Swahili families.

Names like Swaleh Nguru keep cropping up. Driving to North Coast toward Kilifi, one sees stretches of acreage owned by the Mazrui family. The Waitiki Farm controversy was a side issue. The biggest chunks of land are not owned by upcountry people.

It is outrageous that locals—here I mean Mijikenda—still don’t own title to the land they squat on. That intolerable situation has prevailed since Independence. It is only now that the government has started to issue the titles. The process needs to be fast-tracked.

Businesswise, the locals don’t seem to feature also. The big players are Asian, Arab and Kikuyu. Mijikenda are marginal. The taxi guy I operate with (a Kamba) has a snide way of saying the locals sell madafu and lessos. I told him off on that. Somali people are strong in wholesaling in the town. Upcountry people control the nerve centre called Kongowea market, which they complain Governor Ali Hassan Joho has neglected.

DOMINATED BY ARAB FAMILIES

The bus transport business to Nairobi and Malindi and elsewhere is firmly dominated by Arab-Swahili families. However, the Chania company of Thika has intruded into the business. I hear they have even splintered into several entities. For some reason I can’t fathom, the lucrative vehicle import business is controlled by people of Pakistani ancestry.

Governor Joho needs to tackle as a priority the issue of Mijikenda lack of empowerment. He operates like upcountry people are the problem. Sort of like if they are kicked out Mombasa would be a haven. To the contrary, the upcountry folk create jobs.

The Arab-Swahili community the governor belongs to tends to be too ensconced in its comfort zone to accept the bigger reality of poverty and marginalisation in Mombasa and the larger Coast region. This is where he should focus on, not opening up fancy parks or flagging off fire-fighting trucks.

First of all, he should radically increase the quota of Mijikenda jobs in the County government.

My good friend Senator Hassan Omar wants to dislodge the governor next year. I wish him success, though I hear it will not be easy. Both have links to the Mijikenda majority. But they are distrusted by the upcountry crowd. Still, the latter, despite their big numbers, are best served by letting locals run the politics.

A final thing: Mombasa tends to be too compartmentalised for its own good. Nairobi is more cosmopolitan and the different sorts mix easier than in Mombasa. The Arab-Swahili largely keep to themselves. The Asians too. Kamba have their bars. Kikuyus and Luos likewise. There is not much social intermingling. That is not good for a town that boasts of being the gateway to our country.

It is the reason why we struggle with tourism. But don’t blame Joho. It’s too much for him to do. It’s a collective culture. If a tourist is to pick between Mombasa and other african towns, it’s an easy choice to bypass Mombasa for everything you say. Our government simply does not understand that. We need to really clean up our act. I have been to several coastal cities in africa and Mombasa is a shell of what it was in the 80s. It is sad but true.

[Mjuaji]

@Simiyu22

It is the reason why we struggle with tourism. But don’t blame Joho. It’s too much for him to do. It’s a collective culture. If a tourist is to pick between Mombasa and other african towns, it’s an easy choice to bypass Mombasa for everything you say. Our government simply does not understand that. We need to really clean up our act. I have been to several coastal cities in africa and Mombasa is a shell of what it was in the 80s. It is sad but true.

People are blaming governors for problems that have been there since Jomo Kenyatta times and will take decades to rectify. Mombasa needs to reform to match its name. A port town serving most of Eastern Africa it is underperforming big time.

[Siwesmind]

If only there was another way of appointing town managers instead of relying on lying and thieving politicians.

[Mjuaji]

@gapcrew

Devolution was not well thought… regional tribalism ndio walipromote…I hope wangesema any person can be elected in any county as a governor regardless of the tribe…but job allocation ikuwe a big percentage goes to the locals …hapo Mombasa ingeokolewa kiasi

For Kenya to truly advance we need to advance the idea that Kenya is for Kenyans. Thinking in tribal quotas might be the reality of today but it not doing us any good.

[Creature]

@Simiyu22

It is the reason why we struggle with tourism. But don’t blame Joho. It’s too much for him to do. It’s a collective culture. If a tourist is to pick between Mombasa and other african towns, it’s an easy choice to bypass Mombasa for everything you say. Our government simply does not understand that. We need to really clean up our act. I have been to several coastal cities in africa and Mombasa is a shell of what it was in the 80s. It is sad but true.

what if joho was from Jubilee?

[system]

@Siwesmind

If only there was another way of appointing town managers instead of relying on lying and thieving politicians.

U nailed it, The minds of A good number of Kenyan Politicians are not complex to solve the problems facing the Kenyan society.
My suggestion, Kenyan CBD’s should be made semi autonomous. Let Technocrats run them.