Bloody land disputes and evictions in Mombasa are further damaging Jubilee Party’s chances of making inroads. The Opposition has successfully used the land problem to woo voters. Observers say evictions and demolitions in an election year are ill-advised and have the potential to undo all that Jubilee has done to win Coast votes.
Mohamed Wanje, 31, was on Saturday morning shot in the left thigh, while a woman was beaten by youth hired to demolish structures put up by squatters in Nguu Tatu, Kisauni constituency in Mombasa.
This triggered tension when a contingent of 20 riot police escorted Judge Anne Amolo to another 76-acre disputed parcel at the Utange One Scheme in Utange, Kisauni constituency to establish the number of squatters on the land.
In the Utange case, sections of the squatters were armed and ready to fight with the police but the exercise ended peacefully.
Politicians in Mombasa allege there is a plot by the Jubilee administration to disrupt the mass voter registration in opposition strongholds.
Bamburi MCA Riziki Fundi on Saturday said leaders are going round urging people to register as voters yet the national government, through the police, is disrupting registration, claims Jubilee has denied.
Politician Suleiman Shahbal said, “That cannot be true. But let me get the facts on the ground before I give you an informed point of view.”