Supporters of Governor Hassan Joho and their Jubilee rivals clashed during Mashujaa Day celebrations in Mombasa on Thursday.
Trouble began when Nyali MP Hezron Awiti took to the stage. Donned in their respective party colours, two camps, who had been trading words for the better part of the meeting, stood up at each other, prompting police to move in.
The disruption lasted about five minutes, suspending affairs at the podium.
"It is sad that some quarters have decided to drag politics into such an important occasion. This was a day to listen to our leaders and not to tear into each other," said Mombasa County Commissioner Evans Achoki and who read the President's speech.
"Politicians should not wait to make capital out of such an important occasion. If you want to reach out, organise your political events."
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Awiti is the only MP out of Mombasa's six who attended the celebrations. Joho was represented by Deputy Governor Hazel Katana.
Also in attendance were Jubilee politicians Anania Mwaboza and Ramadhan Kajembe.
Katana defended Joho's record and accused his critics of waging baseless propaganda against him.
She accused some local MPs, including Awiti, of misunderstanding the powers of the county and national governments and blaming Joho for not doing things that do not fall under his mandate.
She said the county and national governments complement each other and are not in competition and berated Awiti for falsely accusing the Joho government of not distributing relief food brought by the national government.
"We must give credit where it is due. We accept criticism, which is healthy competition, but the Joho administration must also be credited where it has made achievements, which we all know," Katana said.
