Mazrui street to be named in Mombasa

THE Mombasa county government plans to rename one of its streets after Prof Ali Mazrui, who was buried on Sunday.

Governor Hassan Joho on Monday said the county has about 800Km of road network, but only 200Km are renamed.

He was responding to a proposal raised by Mombasa leaders, who wanted the county to identify a road which will be renamed after Mazrui.

"As a government we shall consult on the issue," said Joho.

MPs Rashid Benzimba (Kisauni), Badi Twali (Jomvu), Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe) and Mvita's Abdulswamad Nassir and Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar called for recognition of Mazrui as one of Mombasa's heroes.

"We are yet to recognise our own heroes.

We need roads with their names or their statues as a sign of respect," said Mwinyi.

Omar said heroes are people who brought change in their own capacity.

Mazrui should be recognised as one of our heroes for bringing change through education, he said.

"We have roads with names associated with 'colonialism'.

We can do away with one such name and rename it after our icon," said Omar.

He said the county government does not need to seek permission from the national government to have roads renamed.

Joho said a special committee will be constituted to look into the matter.

He said Mazrui advocated for education and Mombasa leaders will continue supporting his initiatives.

"He advocated for education through public lectures. We will set aside a day where professors and scholars will issue public lectures on development issues," said Joho.

Mazrui died on October 13 in the US and was buried in Kenya at a family graveyard in Old Town last Sunday.