Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has never shied away from living his flashy lifestyle. From donning high-end designer clothes to flying with a chopper to work and his unending foreign trips, this is what his Instagram page is littered with.
Even in the middle of a pandemic, Mr Joho would not be stopped from eating life with a big spoon. And Suna East MP Junet Mohammed has joined the club.
Two weeks ago, Junet joined Joho aboard the luxurious Constellation Aviation Airline Private Jet Airbus A318-112 (CJ) Elite A6-CAS, MS4211 as he headed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to pick ODM party leader Raila Odinga, who was in Dubai for treatment.
The private jet costs Sh1.3 million per hour, which translates to Sh6.5 million for the five-hour one way trip to Dubai.
Concerned citizens said this money should have been used to buy, for instance, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help in the fight against Covid-19.
The trip split Kenyans down the middle, with some condemning the extravagant show of wealth as people wallow in joblessness and poverty worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic. Others, however, felt it was their right to take the trip.
For Joho, the Dubai trip seemed more important than the lives of county healthworkers and the thousands of people who have contracted the deadly disease.
Controversy over foreign trips, have, however, not been new to him. For him, Dubai has been his second home as before Covid-19 struck, he would from time to time sneak out of his county to have some fun there.
In some instances, the governor would spend more than two months roaming in foreign countries as he shared photos on his social media.
In 2019, in one of his trips, the governor sparked controversy when his photos posing with American socialite Paris Hilton surfaced.
For the Dubai trip, this time around, he picked Mohammed, a leader whose life has been full of jest.
During their trip to the Emirati, Mohammed, who is also the ODM’s party director of elections, could not dither from confirming that he was traveling with “Sultan”, a nickname referred to Joho thanks to his “flamboyance”.
“You are right SC. We can’t afford to claim to be fake hustlers kama wale wengine (like the other lot). I am travelling with the Sultan to see Baba. Asking who paid for the jet and you are travelling with the Sultan!!” said Mohammed in response to a Twitter post by lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi.
Abdullahi had mentioned that he was happy for Mr Mohammed who had been picked by Mr Joho to “provide entertainment”.
“When the Sultan of Mombasa leaves home and travels to another sovereign country (Dubai), he must travel like a Sultan…and I am happy that Hon Junet is providing entertainment,” he said.
Entertaining people seem to be a hidden talent for Mr Mohammed, who this week caused laughter as he ridiculed Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah for being seconded to ‘catering’ committee, where he would be responsible for the quality of his tea and mandazi in Parliament. Mohammed poked fun at Ichung’wah following his demotion to the Members Services Committee during the recent change in committees’ leadership.
“I know he (Ichung’wah) will serve very well in the catering committee. We are now faced with corona, but when normalcy returns if the quality of my tea and mandazi goes down I will blame nobody, but Mr Ichung’wah,” said Mr Mohammed amid laughter from MPs who were in the House.
