By NATION Correspondent 

Detectives yesterday took away records from the Mombasa Municipal Council offices as investigations of financial mismanagement started.

The Criminal Investigations Department officers visited the council's valuation department, which is concerned with fixing rates of council plots, and interviewed three senior officials before being led away to record statements.

The Mombasa CID boss, Mr Ngatia Iregi, said the officers were gathering information on the corruption claims against top officials at the town hall. The Town Clerk, Mr Edward Karani, said he could not tell what documents were taken away because he was attending a meeting. 

Early this month, councillors Salim Bajaber, Mohamed Abdallah, Abubakar Kibarawa and Mohamed Ibrahim formally complained to the police over alleged mismanagement of the council's funds.

They threatened to institute a private prosecution if the police failed to take action. 

But Mayor Masoud Mwahima has denied the allegations, saying his opponents were looking for ways to remove him from office.

At the same time, Cllrs Abdallah and Bajaber accused Mr Karani of trying to run the council without consulting them.

They questioned why he had approved payment of a Sh5.3 million court award to a nightclub owner without the council's approval.

They also complained that councillors had been ignored in the ongoing clean-up of the city.