Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir has defended his decision to impose a ban on the sale of Muguka in Mombasa.
“If you want to know, some people have called this a political risk, this is a political risk, I would rather face that,” he said.
The county boss said soon he would make other far-reaching decisions that would shake the country.
Speaking in an interview with Spice FM on Wednesday, Abdulswamad said his decision was based on an existing law.
“If what I am doing now is causing ripples, then what I will do next will cause a Tsunami,’’ the governor said.
The county boss said he had written to the Ministries of Interior and Health to have the Muguka farmers come up with alternative crops for farming.
“If you feel it is a super plant consume it with your children but spare us the agony of seeing our children being exposed to these,” the governor said.
Nassir spoke hours after President William Ruto met leaders from the Muguka-producing county of Embu following the ban by Mombasa, Taita Taveta and Kilifi counties.
The President announced that he had spoken with Governor Abdulswamad and his counterparts Gideon Mung’aro(Kilifi) and Andrew Mwadime (Taita Taveta) over the ban.
President Ruto said he had asked them to participate in a national meeting that will be convened by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to discuss the challenges of the sale of Muguka.
On his part, Nassir said he had lined up radical policies that he will be announcing in the coming days to “restore sanity and order’’.
The governor hinted that the proposed decisions would be tough on the high and the mighty, but insisted he would not climb down or be intimidated.
“I am not going to state what I will do but this is not the end of bringing sanity and order. I will be touching on other people’s nerves as well,” the governor said.
“I will be touching on other people’s businesses, big ones. The next thing that I will do is to pick those people to go to join or the rehabs.”
The governor said he is determined to completely end the sale of Muguka in his county, saying it has caused untold suffering to the consumers and their families.
“I don’t want to divulge too much but this is going to be the year of sanity,” he said.
The county boss said he followed by giving the traders notices to stop selling Muguka in non-designated areas including next to schools and religious institutions.
Nassir said he was happy with the efforts made by Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire to negotiate for Muguka traders when she visited Mombasa.
“I put the ban when I realised that the traders were taking us for a ride. The traders disrespected their leaders and threw sand on me and their leaders,” the governor said.
The governor claimed that one of the traders said that even if the tax collected to Sh1 million, the Muguka problem remains a serious societal issue.
“This is not a decision that was made by myself alone, I must have pulled the trigger first, but it is an issue affecting society and in Kwale there is a law banning Muguka,” he said.
Nassir claimed that Muguka was being sold to children and people with mental challenges.