Former Nyali MP Hezron Awiti has resurfaced from his political hiatus and fired criticism at the Mombasa county government.
Awiti, who was last seen in public almost a year ago, hit out at the county government over allegations of not delivering on its mandate.
This is after he was allegedly kept waiting for a fire engine for over three hours in the wee hours of Thursday morning after he called to report a fire at his Mamba Village premises.
And when it finally came at around 4 am, he claims it got a puncture just 200m away from the premise.
“What surprises me is how an emergency service provider like a fire engine can lack such a crucial thing like a spare tyre!” claimed an irritated Awiti.
He said the delay of the fire engine could have led to an even bigger disaster had it not been for his night shift workers at Mamba Village, who acted fast and contained it about 45 minutes after it started.
“We are lucky we did not get any casualty and the loss was not as great as had been feared. We lost property worth only between Sh300,000 and Sh500,000,” Awiti said.
They had to replace a section of the grass-thatched roof that had been destroyed by the fire.
He claims74 after the incident, the fire engine was repaired at around 1 pm, almost nine hours later.
The cause of the fire, he said, is not yet clear and experts were called in to determine it.
“Are we not paying taxes? Surely, this is a shame. I don’t know whether the governor knows what is going on. Who knows, maybe if they had not got that puncture, they would have told us the fire engine does not have water,” Awiti said.
“I have been trying to stay away from politics and concentrate on business. But I am being forced to talk,” he noted.
He said he fears for the people at the grassroots who cannot stand up for themselves and have no one to speak for them.
“Imagine a whole leader being treated this way. What about the people at the grassroots? How will they be treated?” he said.
However, the county fire department dismissed Awiti’s claims saying he is trying to turn the matter into a political circus.
County Chief Fire Officer Ibrahim Basafar the county always has three fire engines on standby at any given time and that they are always fully equipped.
“I have 12 new tyres in my store. How can he say we don’t have spare tyres? Let him speak the truth,” Basafar said.
He said the delay was because Awiti did not call the official fire emergency number which is 0738222555.
“Instead, he calls people he knows personally. At such a time, a person may be dead asleep, may be sick, away from the workstation, on leave or they may be incapacitated in any way. There will be delays. People must call the official emergency lines,” he said.
He said the fire control room is operational 24 hours a day and is always manned by three people at any given time.
“There are three controllers at any given time, working in six-hour shifts, four times a day. So the control room will never miss a call, unlike if you call somebody’s line,” he said.
He said the fire engines always have water and always have at least 200 litres of diesel each, enough to go to Nairobi and back.
“Tell him it is too early to start politics. Let him wait till 2027. People always call us and we respond. Twazima mpaka taka (We even respond to calls to put out fires set on rubbish from houses),” Basafar said.
Awiti said the county has also been exposed by the heavy rains pounding the county with most roads being rendered impassable.
Flash floods have hit the county with every downpour.
Two weeks ago, the Makupa causeway in Kibarani was flooded forcing Governor Nassir to tour the area a day later.
On Wednesday, Nassir blamed unscrupulous developers for the flash floods across the county.
He said many developers have put up buildings on the county’s drainage system, thereby blocking stormwater.
He said tycoons in the count are also putting up high-rise buildings on land earmarked for drainage systems.
He said the county will move to court to have those buildings demolished.
He however said the county government has taken steps to ensure the situation is arrested as early as possible.
“As a stop-gap measure the county government has already dug a huge soak pit,” he said.
He urged those living in flood-prone areas to move to safer grounds.
