Joho starts campaign to kick out ODM rebels

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi (left) and his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Ali Joho (second right) hold their hand jointly with the elect Member of Parliament for Malindi Constituency Baraka Willy Mtengo (centre) and other campaign team members at the ODM secretariat in Malindi after a press briefing on Wednesday after the party won the by-election on Monday, March 09, 2016. PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

Emboldened by Monday's victory in the Malindi by-election, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has issued a stern warning to Orange Democratic Party (ODM) rebels.

Joho, ODM deputy party leader, said William Mtengo's victory was a clear message to rebel MPs who supported Jubilee Alliance Party candidate Philip Charo.

During a victory roadshow after weeks of bruising campaigns in Malindi yesterday, Joho announced a road map for campaigns to kick out the rebels starting today with a rally in Lunga Lunga constituency.

The roadshow began at Shanzu with brief stop-overs at Bombolulu and Kongowea and finally a rally at Treasury Square.

Lunga Lunga MP Khatib Mwashetani (Ford Kenya) is one of the leaders affiliated to CORD coalition who campaigned for the Jubilee candidate in the Malindi by-election.

"From the by-election it is clear that they are not with the people. And now we will take the war to their door steps. We will start with Lunga Lunga where we will campaign and demand that he (Mwashetani) is kicked out," said Joho.

The governor also took a swipe at the Government for shutting down two container freight stations associated with his family. He termed the move 'intimidation' and said it has only emboldened his political stand.

"Let them even close my house. They should know that leadership and wealth comes from God. Let them climb a ladder to heaven and close the tap, but I will not leave ODM," he said.

The roadshow was attended by members of county assemblies from Mombasa and Kilifi eyeing parliamentary seats in next year's polls.

But the perceived rebels dismissed ODM's victory in the Malindi by-election as a sign of things to come in 2017.

Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung'aro said the outcome will not dampen the rebel's resolve to work with the Jubilee government. He said the Government will still implement the projects it promised the people during the campaigns in Malindi.

Mwashetani also told off Joho over the assertion that the Malindi by-election was a pointer of things to come in 2017. Instead, he asked Coast ODM leaders to prepare for the "real battle" in the coming elections.

The outcome of the by-election, occasioned by the appointment to the Cabinet of ODM's Dan Kazungu, asserted the Opposition's dominance at the Coast, where President Uhuru Kenyatta lost to Raila in the 2013 presidential vote.

The voting was characterised by physical confrontations involving senior leaders of the ruling coalition and the Opposition.

Meanwhile, Coast women MPs have heightened calls for police to investigate violence meted out on women leaders during the election.

"We are calling on the Government to investigate CORD leaders who instigated one of the ferocious attacks on women even to an extent of stripping them naked. We expect nothing but people to be arraigned in court," said Senator Emma Mbura.