Jubilee rivals in Coast unite to face Governor Hassan Joho

Deputy President William Ruto (centre) cheers up Mombasa Jubilee rivals Anania Mwaboza (right) and Suleiman Shahbal as they shake hands at Wildwaters Centre yesterday where he reconciled them. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

Jubilee Party has agreed on its line-up for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat.

Suleiman Shahbal and Ananiah Mwaboza, who led rival factions of the ruling coalition, will now run as governor and deputy in the August 8 elections after they reconciled yesterday.

They will now face the incumbent Hassan Joho, who is also the Orange Democratic Movement’s deputy party leader.

Yesterday’s agreement between Shahbal and Mwaboza followed a series of meetings led by President Uhuru Kenyatta in January and Deputy President William Ruto, who is currently at the Coast.

Reports indicate that former Cabinet Minister George Muhoho, who is the President’s uncle, worked behind the scenes to reconcile Mwaboza and Shahbal following chaotic party polls in December 2015 that was won by a faction led by the latter but disputed.

The coming together of the two factions appear intended to strengthen Jubilee’s hand in Mombasa politics, which is dominated by Joho’s ODM.

In January, Joho’s deputy and running mate in the 2013 polls, Hazel Katana, defected to Jubilee, raising the ruling coalition’s profile.

Jubilee Party strategists appear keen on raising the ruling coalition’s appeal among the Miji Kenda, which controls 29 per cent of the votes in Mombasa County.

Following Katana’s defection, Joho will likely have to look for another running mate from the community if he is to retain their vote.

Also running for governorship is Nyali MP Hezron Awiti Bolo of ODM. Reports indicate that Awiti might join Ford Kenya or Kadu Asili while Senator Hassan Omar will remain in the Wiper Democratic Movement, where he is the secretary general.

Yesterday, DP Ruto announced the political breakthrough in Mombasa and declared that wrangles were over. He asked Jubilee supporters to rally behind the new team.

WORK TOGETHER

“We all want a Mombasa that is better than it is right now. We have arrived at this agreement after wide consultations. We believe in democracy. That is why our nominations will be free, fair and democratic. The people will decide who they want,” Ruto assured about 350 party aspirants at the Wildwaters Centre.

The DP added: “After several meetings and consultations, we agreed that Mr Shahbal will be our party’s flag bearer in Mombasa county. From today, we will not have two Jubilee teams in Mombasa. Mwaboza’s team will be Shahbal’s team and Shahbal’s team will be Mwaboza’s team. The two will work together for a common purpose to win the Mombasa governor seat,” Ruto said.

Shahbal and Mwaboza were asked to shake hands to demonstrate their unity as Mr Ruto and party supporters cheered.

The DP encouraged aspirants to consult among themselves and come up with the strongest candidate to face the Opposition at the ballot box to save the party the complications of the nomination, anger and possible fallouts.

“On August 9, we will have taken over Mombasa and we will begin the journey to create thousands of jobs for the youth. We will not overburden small-scale traders with taxes.

“We have a common agenda, which is to ensure Mombasa residents get decent lives through job creating and a good business environment,” said Shahbal.

In an interview, Mwaboza said he had to swallow his pride for the sake of party unity and victory in the forthcoming elections.

Mwaboza said yesterday’s announcement was a culmination of a series of meetings initiated by President Kenyatta on January 1, this year, at State House, Mombasa, that brought together the two rival parties.

It was followed with another key meeting chaired by the DP at English Point Marina on January 5 to build consensus.

Meanwhile, the DP announced that Jubilee Party will announce the date of its primaries next week.