Mombasa governor-elect Abdulswamad Nassir says he will prioritise reviving the economy of Mombasa, which is in the Intensive Care Unit.
“My first priority when we take over the county office is to ensure that all the promises we had made are fulfilled.
"One such promise is to ensure we revive the economy of Mombasa, which is in ICU,” he said.
Nassir said he has started receiving reports from all county departments.
He spoke on Thursday at the Star of the Sea Secondary School in Mombasa for the first time, since he was declared governor-elect on Tuesday.
Nassir who is expected to be sworn into office on September 15 said he is being briefed on all the county’s pending bills and they will carry out forensic audits on all the bills before they are paid.
“I will be getting full reports of all the pending bills by tomorrow. We cannot run away from debts but what we can do is to ensure that they are audited first before payment,” he said.
The governor-elect said he will strive to ensure that they do not accrue any more bills. “We will only procure when we are sure we have money.”
Nassir said on Friday he will be meeting with the Mombasa business community to discuss how best they can work together going forward.
“The meeting will be about how to revive the economy,” he said.
During his campaigns Nassir had promised to ensure that all business permits are made into one, to avoid double taxation.
“We had promised to ensure that all business permits are made into one. We are going to look at how best we can move together,” he said.
Nassir also said he will ensure that he resolves the perennial issue of delayed salaries, which has led to unending strikes.
“The county human resource issue is one of the biggest that we will deal with. We have to look at issues of salaries, non-remittance of statutory deductions, staff loans and promotions.
“I will be signing Memorandums of Understanding with the workers unions, once I’m sworn into office,” he said.
The governor-elect further said he has talked to the financial institutions for county staff to continue getting their salaries, even when there are delays from the National Treasury.
“We are already in talks with financial institutions that the exchequer will be our guarantor. That staff should be paid and banks can get back their money, once we receive it from the exchequer,” he said.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
