Nominated Senator Miraj Abdillahi has said political handouts to young people are helping drive insecurity in Mombasa, The Star reported. She said politicians who pay youth to do "dirty jobs" cannot keep paying them. Some of these young people then turn to crime to keep the cash coming, she said. She spoke at Approved Ground in Likoni during a graduation ceremony for ECDE and primary school pupils.
Miraj called for real empowerment projects that let young people feed their families. "Once you give them handouts, they will be dependent on you. I know that is what politicians want. But you cannot sustain that. You are turning these young people into monsters," she said. She said some politicians were fuelling insecurity in Likoni and other parts of Mombasa, knowingly or unknowingly.
She linked the handouts and a lack of street lighting to a recent attack on a cess point in Likoni. A county enforcement officer was killed and an Administration Police officer was seriously injured. The attackers took an AK47 rifle, which has not been recovered. Miraj said the killers would already have been arrested if street lighting had allowed private CCTV cameras to capture them.
The attack prompted security operations in Likoni. Some residents speculated that a curfew had been imposed. On October 30, Coast Regional Police Commander Ali Nuno denied this. He called the attack an isolated case that did not reflect the general security situation. Nuno said there was no curfew and that law-abiding citizens would not be affected by the targeted operations. He urged the public to ignore misinformation that he said was meant to cause panic. In a separate incident early the same day, unknown attackers shot dead boda boda rider Stanley Mwaphulanga on the Dongo Kundu bypass.
Miraj blamed Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir for the dark streets. She said Schedule Four of the constitution makes street lighting his responsibility. "Abdulswamad, if you cannot light up the street in Likoni, then you must go," she said. She also cited poor drainage, which causes flash floods that disrupt traders and keep children out of school.
The senator, a "tutam" crusader, said she was still duty-bound to call out wrongdoing by government officers. She praised state investment at the Coast, citing a Sh40 billion port that is 80 per cent complete. She also cited Sh73 billion for Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone infrastructure. She warned that insecurity could make these investments meaningless. She also appealed directly to Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen to pay attention to Likoni.
Miraj, who is eyeing the Likoni parliamentary seat, also criticised Likoni MP Mishi Mboko. She said bringing Cabinet Secretaries to Likoni did not automatically mean development. Mboko said she could not respond to nominated members who could not mobilise crowds to vote for her. She rejected claims that Likoni had seen no development.