Mtongwe residents demonstrate to demand return of ferry

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MV Likoni which operates at the Mtongwe crossing channel PHOTO file

Mombasa,KENYA:Residents of Mtongwe  in Likoni Mombasa county on Thursday staged demonstrations along the Mtongwe-Likoni  road protesting the withdrawal of the  Mtongwe ferry.

The demonstrators said the vessel was withdrawn after the August election, arguing that it had been  installed only to woo the residents to vote for the Jubilee government.

They also accused some Kenya ferry officials of conflict of interest alleginging that most of them own matatu’s which ply the Mtongwe- Likoni route hence they could be sabotaging the services to protect their interests.

“The relaunch of Mtongwe ferry was  political, how comes that after the August elections it stopped working as it used to? We demand answers,said one of the protesters who identified himself as Mr Bakarai.

Mv Likoni which has been operating at the Mtongwe channel has so far been withdrawn and redeployed at the busy Likoni channel.

When reached for comment, Kenya ferry public relations officer Francis Mugomati said they had withdrawn the Mtongwe ferry services as  two ferries Mv Kwale and Mv Kilindini are under maintenance .

He however stated that the two vessels would soon be redeployed to the channel.

The Mtongwe vessel which was relaunched by president Kenyatta in March  in a bid to ease congestion at the Likoni crossing channel has however being withdrawn several times since it was relaunched forcing Mtongwe users to use the Likoni channel.

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