Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho resurfaced at the wedding of musician Ali Kiba, weeks after residents complained he had left them in limbo.
Joho is an outspoken politician so his absence did not go unnoticed.
Sources close to him said he visited France, Spain and Australia since leaving the county in March. They said he is trying to re-energise and re-strategise politically.
He is the Deputy Leader of ODM party, whose leader Raila Odinga got into a unity deal with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Governor was spotted on Thursday at the wedding of Tanzanian Kiba at Masjid Ummu Kulthum in Mombasa.
Kiba will wed his Kenyan fiancée, Amina Rikesh, whom he has dated since 2016.
The official ceremony will take place later today at Diamond Jubilee Hall in Kongwea.
Tanzanian artiste Ali Kiba with Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and other guests during his marriage ceremony on April 19, 2018. /JOHN CHESOLI
During Joho’s absence, CECs grumbled over lack of ‘proper’ accommodation and office space and factional fights over the transfer of sub-county or ward administrators also ensued.
Critics, including Amani National Congress members, said the county is doomed following the Governor’s prolonged absence.
Critics had piled pressure on Joho, asking him to end his “honeymoon” abroad and return to serve the people.
But Joho’s administration dismissed the “attention-seekers who want to make a name by attacking the him”, one of them being Jubilee Party activist Abdi Daib.
On March 31, Daib said the Governor left the county on “auto-pilot mode” so things are “not moving at all”.
He had given Joho a two-week ultimatum to return.
