I have been a resident of Mombasa
for the last ten years and during this period I have come face to face with the
many problems faced by residents of Mombasa County and the Coast province at
large. These problems can squarely be attributed to failed leadership. As we
enter into the final stretch of the campaigns, those seeking elective positions
in Mombasa especially the gubernatorial position should clearly tell us how
they will deal with these problems. Mombasa lies at the shores of the Indian
Ocean and for this reason it offers sand and sun to tourists mostly from the
European nations during winter season. Being a tourist resort and seaport town
it is expected that communication and transport infrastructure, waste disposal
and sewerage systems and security among others will be of the highest
standards. However the story on the ground is entirely a different one
altogether.
Moi International Airport is the
entry point for most domestic and international tourists visiting the various touristic
destinations in Mombasa. As one drives from the airport to the Makupa causeway
he/she encounters endless traffic jams and roadside structures not reflective
of the tourist resort town that Mombasa is. I wonder what first impression we
want to create to our esteemed visitors. The drive along Kibarani section of
the Makupa causeway is another of the many unpleasant drives one will have all
the way to their destination. For years now the Mombasa Municipal Council (MMC)
has been using the section between the Makupa causeway on your left as you
drive out of town and the creek next to the port as a dumpsite. This has attracted
all sorts of scavengers including human. The smoke from burning refuse combined
with the stench from decaying waste matter leaves the place with one hell of a
smell - it gets worse during the rainy season. This section of the road is also
hilly or sloppy depending on whether you are driving from or to the island and
because of the many trucks collecting or dropping containers to the port or various
CFSs around the port, its also prone to endless traffic jams with many man
hours lost here. Now Mr. Aspiring Mombasa Governor, how does this reflect on
the first-time tourists to Mombasa? What plans do you intend to put in place to
deal with the dumpsite? How do you intend to decongest the town and most
especially around the port? How do you intend to improve the road
infrastructure around and along the airport so that visiting tourists,
investors and other business people or even the residents of these environs do
not waste precious time in traffic jams?
Tourism has been the bedrock of
not just Mombasa’s economy but the country’s at large. However the number of international
tourists visiting Mombasa has been on the decline. One of the issues that have
a direct impact on tourists’ inflow is infrastructure. Tourist coming from
Europe and other international markets fly for long hours to Kenya and that is
not even as torturous as the drive from the airport to their various
destinations in Mombasa due to the terrible state of the roads. At the Likoni
channel, tourist vans spend hours waiting to cross from or to the Island and the
Mombasa-Malindi highway is a nightmare of patched and uneven road with more
patches appearing after every rainy season. It has not gone unobserved that
tourist vans take a detour at Kenol-Nyali and/or at the Kengeleni junction to
Nyali estate so as to avoid driving past the Bombolulu section of the Mombasa-Malindi
highway. This is because just past or before the VOK stage depending on which
side you are driving on, there is another MMC sanctioned dumpsite just on the
road side and the stench is just unbearable too. Driving further to Bombolulu,
Public Service Vehicles (Matatus) pick and drop passengers right in the middle
of the road creating endless traffic jams. So again back to you Mr. Aspiring
Mombasa Governor, What lasting solutions do you intend to put in place to make
sure that all visitors and residents of Mombasa have easy access to their
various destinations? Do you have any plans of working together with the Kilifi
County government to lobby the central government to upgrade the
Mombasa-Malindi road to a dual carriage highway to Malindi and beyond? Infrastructure
is just but one of the issues that affect tourism; others are unregulated beach
operators who harass and rob tourists on the beach, general insecurity in and
around Mombasa town. What solutions do you have for these problems? Tourism standards
in Mombasa have also generally been on the decline and the town has failed to capitalize
on sports tourism or the ever growing business tourism through provision
conferencing facilities of international standards. What strategies will your
government put in place to attract and retain investments in these lucrative
yet unexplored sectors? How will you ensure the declining standards of tourism
in Mombasa are uplifted and maintained to international standards?
The problem of waste disposal at
Kibarani and Bombolulu is just but a tip of the iceberg when compared to
environmental degradation taking place at Mwakirunge where the main MMC
dumpsite is located. I am well aware that you and I are the major contributors
to this garbage menace but the MMC has failed terribly in dealing with the waste
disposal and sewerage problems in Mombasa. The Mombasa’s main markets at
Kongowea, Mackinnon and Majengo lack proper waste disposal mechanisms and there
are no public utilities or the ones in place can hardly cater for the needs of
those operating from these markets. It’s just by the grace of God that there
hasn’t been a breakdown of Cholera or Typhoid in the city considering this is
where residents of Mombasa and even the tourist hotels get their raw food. At
Mwembe Tayari stands elect an eyesore of what used to be a market which I
propose should be opened up to the public as a museum of incompetence – pun
intended. The heaps of garbage being dumped right in front of this ruin do not
help the situation. Waste disposal is one part of the equation, the other is
sewerage management. I always take a pity on anyone taking a dip into the
ocean. Truth of the matter is that Mombasa does not have a working sewerage
system and all effluent treated or otherwise ends up in the ocean. NEMA has a
role to play on matters environment but they too have failed as they are more
concern on regulating noise as opposed to more serious matters of environmental
degradation. Back to you Mr. Gubernatorial candidate, please tell us how you
will ensure that effluent from hotels, hospitals, industries and other
institutions in Mombasa does not end up in the ocean? Since previous MMC
administrations have failed miserably in addressing the problem of waste
disposal, how do you as gubernatorial candidate propose to deal with the
problem of waste disposal, provision of public utilities and proper management
of our markets? And how will you ensure that our markets are not the source of
bad health for Mombasa residents? What do you intend to do with the shell of
what used to be Mwembe Tayari Market? Are you aware that the MMC has failed to
construct a public mortuary similar to the NCC run City Mortuary in Nairobi
leading to congestion at the Coast Provincial General Hospital’s (CPGH) mortuary?
The CPGH mortuary is meant to serve those who meet their maker while in the Hospital.
However due to failure by the MMC to provide another facility to cater for
people who succumb outside of the hospital through road carnage, illness,
suicide, homicide etc. they all end up at the CPGH morgue and other more
expensive private morgues. Do you have a plan to construct a spacious and well
equipped yet cost effective morgue so as to stop straining the CPGH facilities?
Another problem in Mombasa and
the Coast province at large is the quality of education. When compared to other
counties in the country, the performance of schools in Mombasa is wanting and
for this reason the number of students in Mombasa transitioning from primary to
secondary and eventually to universities and other tertiary colleges is much
lower when compared to other counties. As a result, unemployment is very high and
even the lucky ones who get jobs lack the necessary technical skills hence they
receive meager salaries which translates to low disposal income – vicious circle
of poverty. Most of the indigenous workers especially in the tourism sector and
even at the port are either semi-skilled or unskilled. Most employers in the
tourism industry which is the largest source of employment in Mombasa have used
to their advantage to pay measly salaries. The use of unskilled workers points
to the reasons why standards in hotels have declined and why inefficiency is
the order of the day at the port, MMC offices and other public institutions. We
urgently need reforms in Education not just in Mombasa but the country at large
but as the national government pushes this agenda the Mombasa county government
should also come up with measures to address the issue of education facilities
and standard in the county. As an aspiring governor for Mombasa County, how do
you plan to uplift education facilities and standards in Mombasa so that the
indigenous people can be able to compete for jobs at an equal footing with
other jobseekers? We all know that the inefficiencies currently being
experienced at the Port of Mombasa are as a result of a bloated yet unqualified
workforce. This bloated workforce is as a result of cronyism and nepotism
practiced by politicians who have over time influenced employment of
incompetent kin and tribesmen so as to gain political mileage. Since the port
is a major source of revenue for the central government and after March 4th for
the county government too, how will you as the governor address the
inefficiencies at the port and other public institutions in Mombasa? How do you
intend to create and offer alternative employment to this bloated workforce so
that sanity and efficiency can be restored at the port?
Although land is an issue that
needs to be addressed by the Central government, the county governments should
also come up with ways of eradicating illegal settlements, ways on how to do
away with slums by putting up affordable housing and measuring to deal with
street families. The Mombasa county government should also push for release of
the Ndung’u report as this report will shed a lot of light of the current land
problems in the county. As an aspiring governor do you have the balls to
advocate for full disclosure of the Ndung’u report? How will you deal with the
street families and transform slums into habitable dwellings?
The problems facing the residents
of Mombasa are many as is evident from the length of this post which in itself
is not conclusive but as I wind up I would have missed a very crucial point if
I failed to mention a thing or two about narcotics. Again due to Mombasa’s
strategic positioning, drug barons have made it an entry and transit point for
drugs destined for Europe and other Western destinations. Overtime some of
these drugs found their way into the Kenyan market and currently a large number
of Kenyan youth are hooked to drug use/abuse. Unemployment has not helped the
situation with many of the victims being unemployed/idle youths. As a candidate
aspiring to ascend to the highest office in the County tell us how you will
stop the influx of these narcotics through the Mombasa port. How will you
rehabilitate and reintegrate drug users back into society? Enlighten us how you
intend to transform the economy of the county thus providing our youth with the
much needed employment so that they don’t get caught up in drug use/abuse,
crime, prostitution and other social vices.
I would also like to hear or read
about your plans of providing the residents of Mombasa with clean water all
days of the week, construction of by-passes to connect Nairobi-Mombasa highway
to Mombasa-Malindi highway and the North coast of Mombasa hence decongesting
the CBD and construction of a rail commuter service network to serve Mombasa
residents. Like I mentioned earlier I may not exhaustively cover all the issues
but these are the areas I would want addressed within the first term of the new
county government in Mombasa
Messrs Aspiring Governors for
Mombasa County the ball is now on your court.
Yours faithfully,
PROSPECTIVE VOTER
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