{"id":136894,"date":"2026-04-07T15:02:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/nyali-mp-cries-foul-as-mombasa-billboards-pulled-down-in-night-operation\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T15:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:02:58","slug":"nyali-mp-cries-foul-as-mombasa-billboards-pulled-down-in-night-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/nyali-mp-cries-foul-as-mombasa-billboards-pulled-down-in-night-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"Nyali MP cries foul as Mombasa billboards pulled down in night operation"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 7 \u2014 Nyali MP and Mombasa gubernatorial contender Mohamed Ali has accused unnamed county actors of orchestrating the removal of three billboards carrying a civic message in a late-night operation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ali said the billboards \u2014 located in Buxton, Ferry and Kibarani \u2014 were removed on the night of April 6 following what he described as \u201cintimidation and threats\u201d directed at advertising firms contracted to host the campaign.<\/p>\n

The MP claimed the pressure was linked to the Mombasa County administration led by Governor Abdulswamad Sharrif Nassir, alleging that operators of both static and digital advertising platforms had been warned against displaying or airing the message.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree outdoor billboards carrying a civic message encouraging voter registration\u2026 were forcibly pulled down following intimidation and threats directed at advertising operators,\u201d the lawmaker eyeing the Mombasa gubernatorial seat of DCP ticket said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The contested message \u2014 \u201cUtawala Bora sio zawadi. Ni haki yako. Chukua kura tujikomboe\u201d<\/em> (Good governance is not a gift. It is your right. Register. Liberate ourselves.) \u2014 was, according to Ali, non-partisan and aimed purely at boosting voter awareness in a region historically marked by low registration and turnout.<\/p>\n

He termed the incident \u201can outright abuse of power\u201d and a violation of constitutional guarantees on freedom of expression, arguing that the removal of the billboards undermines public interest communication and civic participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pulling down of billboards with such civic messaging is an outright abuse of power and the suppression of civic space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali further warned that the alleged actions risk chilling legitimate business operations, saying private advertising vendors were being targeted for engaging in lawful commercial activities.<\/p>\n

\u2018Family affair\u2019<\/h2>\n

Framing the dispute as part of a broader political struggle in the coastal county, the legislator accused entrenched interests of seeking to maintain control by suppressing dissent and limiting civic engagement.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor so long, Mombasa has been run by people who assume that the whole county is their family affair\u2026 The county has been milked dry at the expense of Mombasa people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued that the real issue was not the billboards themselves, but the message they carried \u2014 one that he said challenges citizens to reclaim their democratic power through the ballot.<\/p>\n

The MP has now called on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to investigate what he termed as interference with voter registration efforts, and urged residents to remain vigilant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not about one candidate\u2014it is about your right to choose leadership freely.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no immediate response from the Mombasa County Government regarding the allegations at the time of publication.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 7 \u2014 Nyali MP and Mombasa gubernatorial contender Mohamed Ali has accused unnamed county actors of orchestrating the removal of three billboards carrying a civic message in a late-night operation. Ali said the billboards \u2014 located in Buxton, Ferry and Kibarani \u2014 were removed on the night of April 6 following what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}