• He told the Star he has held talks with various communities in county, among them Luhyas, Mijikendas, and people from the Mt Kenya region.
• On Saturday, Omar courted Taita Taveta people residing and working in Mombasa.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Mombasa UDA governor candidate Hassan Omar has promised to form an all-inclusive government if elected next month.
Omar, a former Mombasa senator, has been courting different communities in the region to be part and parcel of his government.
He told the Star he has held talks with various communities in county, among them Luhyas, Mijikendas, and people from the Mt Kenya region.
“We still have pending engagements with the Luos, Kisiis, and other communities that are residents and voters in this county,” he said.
On Saturday, Omar courted Taita Taveta people residing and working in Mombasa.
He said Taita Taveta people are considered a minority in the region, despite having more than 40,000 registered voters in Mombasa.
“Who lied to you, the Taita Taveta people, that you are the minority? Your votes count in this county of Mombasa, the same way the Mijikenda votes count,” Omar said.
He said UDA has nominated two women from the Taita Taveta community, whose names have been included in the list of people who will be nominated to the county assembly.
"There are also two young men from Taita Taveta, who are on the ballot on the UDA party ticket," Omar said.
“If the two men win, and the two women are nominated to the county assembly, the Taita Taveta community will have better representation. I will also appoint one person from the Taita community to my cabinet.”
He was speaking at the Mission to Seamen grounds during a meeting with Taita community living in Mombasa dubbed, “Wadawida na Watuweta Mombasa Edition".
Omar said if elected governor he will put an end to bad governance, inequality and exclusion.
Those present during the meeting included former Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu, Taita Taveta Woman Representative Lydia Haika and Mombasa UDA senator candidate Hamisi Mwaguya.
The Taita Taveta community, which is said to have come to Mombasa more than 124 years ago, presented to Omar some of the issues they want addressed. They included being allocated a designated area at Kongowea Market, because they are among the biggest traders at the facility.
They also want to get appointments to the county cabinet, allocated a designated matatu stage within the Mombasa CBD, and get a conducive environment to do their business.
Mombasa county has slightly more than 600,000 registered voters, according to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission 2022 voters’ register.
The Taita Taveta community has more than 40,000 votes out of the 600,000 registered in Mombasa, which is about seven per cent of all the voters in the county.
The Mijikenda community is the single largest voting bloc in the region with more than 220,000 registered voters, followed by the Luos, Kamba and Luhyas residing in the region.
Each of the top three Mombasa gubernatorial candidates has settled on a Mijikenda person as his running mate in the race to succeed Governor Hassan Joho.
Omar has settled on Selina Maitha, a sister of former Cabinet minister Karisa Maitha, as his running mate in the race.
Mvita MP Abduswamad Nassir, who is eyeing the Mombasa governor's seat on the ODM party ticket, settled on Francis Thoya, a former Mombasa county secretary, as his running mate.
Former Nyali MP Hezron Awiti, who is running on the Vibrant Democratic Party (VDP) ticket, settled on 28-year-old graduate Bethline Kadzo as his running mate.
Omar and Awiti are making a second attempt at the governor’s post after losing in 2017, whereas this is Nassir's first attempt.
In 2017, Omar was third after Joho (ODM), who garnered 221,177 votes, and businessman Suleiman Shahbal (Jubilee), who garnered 69,515 votes.
Omar, who was then the Wiper party candidate for Mombasa, got 43,787 votes, while Awiti got 4,709 votes.
Omar and Nassir are seen as the front-runners in this year’s election.
Edited by A.N