By Patrick Ochieng’
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho’s almost two-month-long absence has sparked numerous speculation and furors from critics and fans alike.
He was last seen in public in the county on February 22 after Mombasa High Court dismissed a case that challenged his win.
Investigation and numerous interviews by The Plu have established that the ODM deputy party leader has crisscrossed at least three countries during the period under review.
On Friday, his spokesperson Richard Chacha confirmed Joho is out of the country. He is currently in Spain.
“He left for Spain April 11, to advance plans and funding to build two desalination plants to bridge the gap between water demands and supply that currently stands at 70 percent,” the spokesman said.
And on his Twitter page, Joho on Thursday posted: “Had a fruitful engagement with the Secretary of State of the Spanish Government Ms. Maria Garcia and the Director General for Water Mrs. Liana in Madrid. Spain is one of the leading Countries globally with sustainable desalination technologies (sic).”
On March 1, Joho, host of executives and his press team were in Estonia. This followed official invitation from the country through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“I am delighted and honored to begin a two-day official visit which seeks to further strengthen the existing cordial relations between the people of Estonia and the people of Mombasa,” Joho said.
He later signed an MoU with Let’s Do It World Foundation for Mombasa cleanup. Governor Joho afterward went to Berlin, met Germany officials and attended the Internationale Tourismus-Börse (ITB) Congress, the world’s largest trade show. The conference was conducted between March 6-10. He also held discussions with SKAL International’s president Sussana Saari at the ITB Berlin.
Chacha said, without providing specific dates, the governor will proceed to France after Spain.
“He will be attending the Global Water Summit where he will deliver a keynote address to the Water Finance Council on better collaboration. During the summit, water desalination will be part of discussions.”
The governor is reportedly on working tour seeking support and funding for key infrastructural projects to advance the city of Mombasa in areas of water and health.
“For the last week, the governor has been lobbying for improved funding ahead of the 5th devolution conference set for Kakamega later this month. He has been instrumental in pre-conference activities at the council of governors. The issue has now made it to the conference agenda,” he said.
Whereas there is no constitutional requirement that spells out how long a Governor has to be out, questions have been raised about utilization of taxpayers’ money and service delivery.
Nominated MCA Moses Aran said so long as the county structures are in place, work will go uninterrupted.
“The deputy governor is there to perform all his duties. It’s courtesy of such trips that we source for donors to refurbish Coast Provincial General Hospital,” he said.
Joho’s lawyer Dennis Mosota was quoted by The Standard saying: “Craving for his presence is largely based on the tradition of hand-outs and hang-overs of pre-devolution days. A full presence of the Governor would essentially kill delegation of duty, a key aspect of devolution which many governors are missing on.”
