Joho’s fiery remarks to Kenyans on social media after retrieval of Likoni bodies

Mombasa Governor Ali Joho faulted a section of Kenyans for criticising the National Government for perceived incompetence in retrieving the bodies of Mariam Kighenda and that of her daughter Amanda Mutheu.

Addressing the nation at a press conference on the shores of Likoni Ferry channel on Friday evening, Joho said many Kenyans were quick to claim -- on social media and offline -- that the State had failed Kighenda’s family by “taking too long” to pull out the bodies of the mother-and-daughter from the sea.

According to the county chief, many Kenyans became “virtual expert divers” who gave advice on a mission they have never taken part in.

Joho said the critics widely believed that the Indian Ocean’s depth is akin to that of a 2-meter swimming pool, a school of thought that he termed as a “joke”.

“Some of the divers here [in the retrieval mission] have outperformed themselves,” said Joho.

“The work that took place beneath the surface of the sea was not a joke,” he added.

“Remember, there are so many vehicles that plummeted into the same ocean but were never found. I can cite the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s as a period when several vehicles fell into the Indian Ocean, but were never retrieved,” said Joho.

“[After Kighenda’s car plunged into the sea, and online users thought the government was taking too long to find the bodies], the State was subjected to a lot of bashing on social media,” said Joho.

“I would like to tell you that the Indian Ocean is not a swimming pool. Let us understand that retrieving the bodies was made difficult because of the ocean’s terrain, tides and the rocks beneath it.”

The governor asked Kenyans and the Government to use the accident involving Kighenda and her daughter as a “learning experience” to avert such incidents in the future.

“An accident is unpredictable. God planned that the accident happens the way it did. It was not like somebody had plotted in advance to have things pan out the way they did,” said Joho, who thanked the multi-agency team that retrieved the mother-and-daughter’s bodies from the sea after a 13-day exercise.

Esther Koimett, the PS-State Department for Transport, hailed the “spirited” Kenya Navy divers and Mombasa-based private divers for ensuring that the two bodies were successfully pulled out of the sea amid pressure from Kenyans.

“The mission, initially considered by many as an impossibility, has been successfully completed,” said Koimett, who was present at the ferry channel during the Friday retrieval exercise.

 “Team-work, commitment and dedication led to the success of the operation,” she said, adding: “Let us have faith that our Navy can defend us. Unless we have confidence in our own country and institutions, we will not be able to do much.”

Also present at the ferry channel Friday evening were Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna, Kenya Navy commander, Major General Levi Franklin Mghalu, Mombasa senator Mohammed Faki, Mvita MP Abdulswamad Shariff, among others.

The bodies of Mariam Kighenda, 35, and Amanda Mutheu, 4, were pulled out of the Indian Ocean at 4:15pm Friday, October 11.

The State had said, Thursday, that the vehicle, which had the bodies of the two, was sighted 58 meters below the sea surface.

Kighenda and Mutheu plunged into the Indian Ocean on September 29 after the vehicle they were in, a Toyota Isis, reversed while aboard a ferry and plummeted into the briny waters.