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HE. Hassan Ali Joho, Governor Mombasa County

His Excellency Hassan Ali Joho is the first governor of Mombasa County and is serving his second five-year term after successfully defending his seat on the August 8th 2017. Governor Joho was first elected on March 4th, 2013 polls. Prior to that he served as Member of Parliament for Kisauni Constituency between 2007 and 2013.During his term in the National Assembly, Governor Joho served as the Assistant Minister for Transport, Vice Chairman of the Foreign, Defense & Election Committee, Library Committee Member and Transport, Housing & Public Works committee member among other positions.

Governor Joho is the National Deputy Party Leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), a party on whose platform he has been elected since 2007.

Governor Joho is the Chair of the Global Strong Cities Steering Committee Working Group on Communications and Counter Narratives.

Governor Joho is also the Co- President of the 21st Century Maritime Cooperation Committee on Trade and Investments of Cities and Local Governments of Asia-Pacific, Southeast, South Asia and Africa.

He is a team player and a worker with immense skills which connect mostly with the youth and both rural and urban poor.

Besides being a public servant, Governor Joho is a multi-talented and influential serial entrepreneur who has successfully started, grown and managed various enterprises in diverse sectors ranging from environmental management, shipping and logistics to manufacturing and retail. As a business magnate and investor, he is the founder and pioneer of Prima Pest & Bins Limited, the first garbage collection company in Mombasa.

He is also the founder of M-Tech Kenya Limited and East African Terminals Limited, commanding respect within the shipping and logistics industry. While he has stepped down from executive positions in these businesses, he continues to provide support as a strategist and business idealist from time to time.

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History of Mombasa

Mombasa has a long history the traces can be found from the writings of the 16th century. Many traders did attempt to enforce their governance on the town due to its advantageously central location, where Arab influence is felt prominently till date.

The town of Mombasa remained the center of the Arab trade in ivory and slaves from the 8th to the 16th century. It is known that Arab traders sailed down around to the coast of Kenya from the first century AD who continued to build trade along the ports of Mombasa and Lamu.

Portuguese also had their influence on the port that changed the face of the land by burning it almost three times. It is believed that Vasco da Gama was the first known European to visit Mombasa, whose purpose of exploration was to spread the Christian faith to further expand Portugal’s trading area. Mombasa became Portugal’s main trading centre of spices, cotton and coffee, where Fort Jesus was constructed. The Fort served as the major center for trading goods that protected the Portuguese from conflicts with locals the remains of which still attracts a great deal of tourists and visitors. As slavery was highly practiced during that era, the local slaves were exchanged for goods.

Until 1698, the Portuguese controlled the city, but soon the Omani Arabs took over the charge.

Finally, the British took control of Mombasa in 1895, wherein the British East African Protectorate was established.

Colonization perpetuated in Mombasa that promoted European culture over the town and the Kenyan lands. Like in India, the British gained momentum and established control of the port. They even completed a railway line in the early 1900’s from Mombasa to Uganda which is perhaps the major landmark in the history of Mombasa. Thus, from 1887 to 1907, Mombasa remained the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate.

The British rule ended and Kenya received its independence on the 12th December 1963. From herein, began the creation of political parties and unions that faced elections for the formation of a stable government. Though significant political shifts and oppositions led to violence, the pressure from the international and African community led the leaders to finally come to a consensus and form a power-sharing agreement.

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