How Jubilee’s Coast strategy has created powerful losers

Mombasa Governor Joho argues with GSU officers at the Nyali Bridge where he had been blocked from a public function officiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta. [Photo: Gideon Maundu, Standard]

Last week, Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho was blocked from attending the launch of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). News about the episode did not overshadow the launch itself, as it happened when Joho was barred from President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-launch of the Mtongwe ferry channel in Likoni, Mombasa, earlier this year.

In Kenya, political drama has traditionally commanded large swathes of the public’s attention, and following in this precedent, media coverage has largely focused on the personal duel between Uhuru and Joho – and the associated rise of Joho’s political career within national opposition politics. In my view, these are mere dramatic overtures to something more substantial.