ODM has refuted claims that deputy party leader Hassan Joho has endorsed Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir to succeed him as Mombasa governor.
Speaking to the Star on Thursday, the party’s Mombasa branch chair Mohamed ‘Dee’ Khamis said ODM stands by what the party leader Raila Odinga has been saying all along.
“The decision of who will carry the ODM ticket stands with the people of Mombasa county. It will not only be between Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir, businessman Suleiman Shahbal and Mombasa Deputy Governor William Kingi, but also in other contested seats,” Khamis said.
During last Friday’s governor’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Treasury Square, Joho made vague statements that could easily be interpreted as endorsing Nassir to be his successor.
“Ntakuja hapa kuunga mkono ndugu zangu wengine tupeleke mbele. Na nawaambia hawa Abdulswamad ataka ugavana, my friend. Safari ndio hii mwelekeo tumeeka.
“Mwelekeo tumeeka. Sivyo? Mwelekeo tumeeka ni nyinyi kufanya nini? Kufata,” Joho said.
This can be translated into: “I will come here to support some of my brothers and to take them forward. Abdulswamad wants the governorship. This is the journey and we have set the direction for you to follow.”
However, on Thursday, Khamis insisted that Joho did not endorse Nassir but only gave direction as to what the next governor should do.
“He only gave direction as someone who has worked together with Abdulswamad for a long time. It is not that he said he has any preferred candidates,” Khamis said.
He said he will not allow the party to be divided because of nominations, which he says he will ensure are free and fair.
Khamis said over the years, the party has been having serious integrity issues when conducting its nominations.
The nominations have more often than not been controversial with certain politicians said to have been favoured at the expense of the others.
This has led to popular candidates ditching the orange for other outfits or becoming independent and clinching political seats at the expense of ODM.
During the 2013 nomination in Nyali, popular businessman Hezron Awiti was pushed out of the party and forced to seek refuge in Wiper, through which he clinched the Nyali MP seat at the expense of ODM’s Said “Saido” Abdalla.
In 2017, a similar thing happened to incumbent Mohammed Ali.
He was pushed out of the party after shambolic and questionable nominations against Saido and was forced to vie for the seat as an independent candidate. He won.
On Thursday, Khamis said he wants to avoid such as this has cost the party numbers in Parliament and county assemblies.
Party leader Raila has confided in his close confidants that the nominations period is his most stressful period in his political career.
He wants to avoid past mistakes and get it right this time, when he feels he has the best chance of getting into the house on the hill.
Khamis said: “As ODM Mombasa chair, I assure you all, the party belongs to all and the nominations will be free and fair.”
The nominations will be conducted by the ODM National Elections Board.
“Let us all remove doubts and worry and let us unite to take the party forward,” he said.
Shahbal’s campaign manager Major (Rtd) Idris Abdirahman has called out Joho for bringing confusion to the party.
Abdirahman said Raila has set the record straight but Joho is now bringing confusion to the party.
“He should stop making statements that are contradictory to the party leader,” Abdirahman said.
On Wednesday, a section of ODM party members allied to Shahbal faulted the media for “misquoting Governor Joho”.
Led by Oginga Randiki, who claims to be Coast ODM grassroots advisor to the party leader Raila Odinga, they said Joho’s remarks did not clearly state that he had endorsed Nassir.
Randiki reiterated the position of the ODM party leader that there is no preferred candidate for the gubernatorial seat in Mombasa or any other place in the country.
“When you listen to Governor Joho’s remarks which were actually made in Kiswahili during the launch, it is obvious that at no point at all in his address did he endorse, express partisan sentiments or show preference for Nassir as reported in the press,” Randiki said.
Randiki was flanked by members of the Bunge la Mwananchi Mombasa branch who cautioned Governor Joho and other ODM top brass to be mindful of the statements they make to avoid what happened with Joho’s statement.
“We, the wananchi, are very keen with what is being uttered by our leaders,” Pius Makani, clerk to the Bunge la Wananchi said.
He urged the party leader and his deputy to leave ODM matters in Mombasa to the wananchi to decide for themselves who their preferred candidates will be.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
