Register as voters and send home lazy leaders, Bashatir tells Mombasa youth

Mombasa businessman and politician Mbarak Bashatir /BRIAN OTIENO

Mombasa youth must take responsibility, register as voters and make the right choices at the ballot in 2027, businessman and politician Mbaraka Bashatir has said.

Bashatir on Tuesday said more than 70 per cent of MCAs in the county are not playing their oversight role well and shiould not be re-elected.

“Youth are the majority in Mombasa and in Kenya. If they are to ensure they get the proper services that they deserve, they need to ensure they are represented by the right people,” Bashatir said in his weekly address to Kisauni residents.

Last Thursday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced that continuous voter registration will resume on September 29.

The commission has embarked on mapping of registration centres, stakeholder engagement, geospatial data consolidation and preparation of the Kenya Integrated Electoral Management System, among other activities to ensure more Kenyans, especially the youth, registers as voters.

Bashatir said MCAs are the closest to the public and therefore need to be more accountable to the people they represent.

“We are tired of rhetoric. We have been hearing MCAs complain a lot yet they have the power to make things work.Do not complain that the governor is not working, yet you are doing nothing about it. We are tired of public relations exercises. If (Governor Abdulswamad) Nassir is not a good leader, then table a motion to impeach him,” Bashatir said.

There has been a cold war between the county executive and the county assembly in Mombasa.

MCAs are split between loyalty to Governor Nassir and the speaker of the county assembly, Aharub Khatri. Both Nassir and Khatri have ramped up political activities in the county, trying to outdo each other.

Bashatir said this show of might is better placed in development matters instead of political sideshows.

“We have seen people launching even the issuance of national ID cards, which the youth struggle to get in the first place,” he said.

“It is meaningless to launch the issuance of ID cards. Let there be tangible development projects.”

This is seen as a dig at Governor Nassir, who last Wednesday issued over 3,000 national ID cards to Mombasa residents.

Nassir said the exercise was beneficial to youth in Mombasa, who will now get opportunities because of the crucial document.

“For many, this means the chance to secure jobs, enrol in school, access healthcare, and fully participate in the life of our nation — proof that when leaders and communities work together, change becomes real,” Nassir said.

He noted that through the Shariff Nassir Foundation, he helped lessen the burden on the youth by paying the fees required for the acquisition of the ID cards.

Joyce Odipo, a resident, said she lost her ID and needed Sh1,050 to replace it. The Sharif Nassir Foundation paid the replacement fee for her, and last Wednesday, she got the document.

Nassir said leaders should focus on selling their policies and stop empty criticism.

“Sell your policies. If you can’t do that, then sell your faces. If you can’t do that, then pray to God because I don’t know how we will help you,” Nassir said.

But Bashatir insisted Mombasa residents need services from all elected leaders.

“Lazy leaders will go home in 2027,” he said.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

The recent war of words between a section MCAs and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir threatens to derail services to the residents. The rivalry between the executive and the county assembly could disrupt the working relationship between the two arms of government, with the residents becoming the victims.