A press conference called by four Coast Members of Parliament (MPs) allied to Deputy President William Ruto in a hotel in Mombasa town was on Friday disrupted by irate youths armed with stones and other crude weapons.
The four MPs led by Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa, Mohammed Ali (Nyali), Athman Shariff (Lamu East) and Kilifi women representative Gertrude Mbeyu were chased away by youths shortly after arriving at Lotus Hotel where they had planned to address the media.
Tens of youth armed with stones and clubs blocked the legislators from accessing the hotel forcing them to retract. Members of the press were also not spared by the youths as they did not want them to cover the event.
The MPs later addressed the media outside the hotel and condemned the incident promising to attend the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) meeting scheduled for Saturday.
“If BBI is for inclusivity, then Coast leaders should be given time to give their views since it is happening in Coast region. We shall attend the Tononoka meeting on Saturday and we have a right to air our views,” said Ms Jumwa.
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She added, “What we have seen here today depicts the kind of leaders we have in Mombasa and we know this is just part of the plan to frustrate who have different opinion on BBI and we expect more of such sideshows tomorrow (Saturday).”
Nyali MP on the other hand said they are not being involved in the planning despite them being part of Coast leaders and warned people from outside the region from taking over the programme.
“It is a pity that there is an ongoing meeting at Wild Waters for delegates which is in my constituency but I am not involved. Is this what we are calling building bridges?” asked Mr Ali.
Mr Shariff and Ms Mbeyu did not return to address the media after escaping the youths’ wrath .
After the incident, the group headed to Wild Waters where a delegates meeting to plan for the Tononoka event was being held and were allowed to attend.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen sensationally claimed that some people are planning to humiliate leaders allied to Deputy President Ruto during the Coast region BBI event.
That was after Coast governors led by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi warned the Tanga Tanga leaders against politicising the process, saying the event was a Coastal region affair and outsiders must come with that in mind.
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