Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has given Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho a two-hour ultimatum to surrender his guns, failure to which he will be arrested.
Following the directive, the Mombasa Governor had until 2pm Tuesday to return his three guns.
"By 2pm I will have arrested the Governor and he will be in jail. The law is very clear on the mandate I was given."
"Go tell Joho the General has said he should bring his guns by lunch time," retired Major General Nkaissery emphatically stated.
However, in a quick rejoinder, Joho dared the Interior CS to make good his threat stating: "I don't fear arrest, Nkaissery should direct me to any police station, I'll avail myself there".
This comes as the latest twist in the ongoing contention pitting Governor Joho against the national government over his right to possess guns.
On Monday, the Mombasa Governor lamented that the Government was harassing him due to his political stand, especially after the Opposition victory in the Malindi by-election.
Read Also: Joho Now Pleads with Nkaissery for Guns
“I have been at the centre of State-sponsored machinations targeting me individually and businesses linked to me. These acts that amount to persecution, intimidation and blackmail have taken a more dramatic and scary turn after the by-elections,” he said.
Joho maintained that the issue of the guns should go through a legal process, urging Nkaissery to give him a fair hearing following the orders to revoke his firearms.
Speaking at Capitol Hill, Nairobi, where he was with his Kilifi counterpart, Amason Kingi, Senators James Orengo and Johnson Muthama and Embakasi South MP Irshadali Sumra, Governor Joho insisted that the law allowed him to appeal against the decision and he was doing so through his lawyers.
The tussle between Joho and CS Nkaissery has seen the latter come under fire, with a section of Kenyans accusing him of exercising his mandate in a partisan way.
On Saturday, Nkaissery sparked a wave of mixed reactions after he firmly stated: "Nobody can be bold enough to compete with the government. You can't challenge the government".
