Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir has maintained his position regarding the privatization of Mombasa Port.
Speaking on Wednesday, the governor said he is not in any way against the growth of Mombasa County but is trying to defend the Port.
He said the only thing he is against is leaving a private institution to manage the operations of the port of Mombasa without a full explanation about the role of the institution that will manage it.
The governor said nothing has been done to show that the port has issues that need to be fixed but he said the county is planning to get more from the privatization.
Nassir noted that when the port was closed by the previous administration, Mombasa’s economy was greatly affected and he is still on his way to recovery.
”Unapofanya maamuzi ambayo yanaenda kudumaa, kwa namna moja au nyingine, swali unalotakiwa kujiuliza ni je, tulikuwa tunapata hasara tukiwa na bandari? hapana, kupata zaidi? hapana.” Nassir said.
The governor of Mombasa emphasized that the lives of the residents of Mombasa are tied to the port and he will not remain silent when important decisions concerning his people are made.
Nassir said that since his father’s time, the elected leaders have been talking about the port to benefit the residents of Mombasa, but no one has made a concerted effort to see it come to fruition.
He said he will not go on record as the governor who remained silent when port decisions were made.
”Hakuna hata mmoja wetu anayekataa ukuaji, hakuna hata mmoja wetu anayekataa chanya. Hakuna hata mmoja wetu anayesema chochote kinacholetwa ni kitu ambacho tunapiga tu bila sababu,” Nassir said.
”Bandari ni uchumi wa Mombasa, na riziki ya watu wa Mombasa kutoka kwa wasafirishaji hadi kwa kila mtu mwingine. Kila kitu kiko kwa njia moja au nyingine kulingana na Bandari.”
His remarks come even after President William Ruto confirmed the government has no intention of privatizing the Port of Mombasa. Ruto, however, promised that the government would partner with the private sector in the consensus process to increase efficiency and investment.
“The privatization of the Port of Mombasa will not happen while we are in government, I said when I took office, the operations of the Port would be returned to Mombasa from Naivash and we did so,” he said.
“I want to assure you that we will expand it to create jobs because it can serve South Sudan, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.”
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir has been on a strong advocacy campaign against the privatization of the Port.
