• UDA’s Mohammed Ali is leading in Nyali constituency against ODM’s Said Abdhalla, alias Saido.
• In Kilifi, ODM is poised to win four out of seven MP seats in Magarini, Kilifi South, Kaloleni and Malindi.
Image: FILE
ODM on Thursday seemed set to scoop the majority MP seats in Mombasa and Kilifi counties.
Out of six MP seats in Mombasa, ODM seemed poised to win five-Likoni, Mvita, Kisauni, Changamwe and Jomvu.
UDA’s Mohammed Ali was leading in Nyali constituency against ODM’s Said Abdhalla, aka Saido.
UDA was expected to win at least six MCA seats out of the 30 in the Mombasa county assembly.
Three ODM MPs, Mishi Mboko (Likoni), Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe) and Badi Twalib were expected to retain their seats.
Mboko is seeking a second term in office. She has been leading in most polling stations.
Mwinyi, who was first elected in 2013 on the ODM ticket, was headed for victory for a third term in office.
Twalib, who was also first elected in 2013 through Wiper and later decamped to ODM in 2017, was also expected to get a third term in office.
In Kisauni, former MP Rashid Bedzimba was set to win on the ODM ticket.
Outgoing MP Ali Mbogo of Wiper was to be former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko's running mate in the Mombasa governor race.
Sonko and Mbogo were however disqualified after the Supreme Court upheld Sonko’s impeachment.
In Mvita, Mohammed Machele of ODM was leading 13 other candidates.
In Kilifi, ODM was poised to win four out of seven MP seats—Magarini, Kilifi South, Kaloleni and Malindi.
The Raila Odinga-led party was also set to clinch the governor, Senate, and woman rep seats.
The party is also expected to win 17 out of the 35 MCA seats.
The party has lost Ganze, Kilifi North and Rabai seats to Pamoja African Alliance and UDA.
In Kilifi South, Ken Chonga, who was recently appointed to ODM’s National Executive Committee, retained his seat.
Amina Munyazi was expected to win the Malindi seat, Paul Katana seemed set to retain the Kaloleni seat while Harry Kombe defeated Governor Amason Kingi’s brother Michael Kingi in Magarini.
Gertrude Mbeyu and Stewart Madzayo retained the Woman MP and Senate seats respectively.
When Raila toured the county, he urged Kilifi voters to punish Kingi by electing ODM candidates after he deserted him to form his own party.
Raila termed Kingi "disrespectful and egocentric".
Baha Nguma, a former chief officer in Amason Kingi’s first administration, said Kilifi's love for Raila was unwavering.
“This was a protest vote against Kingi. People heeded the call by Raila to punish him. They voted out most of Kingi’s candidates, including his brother,” he said.
Charles Chigiri, a communication expert in PAA team, attributed ODM's win to the party's choice of presidential candidate.
“Some decisions made by the party, including decisions on national alignments, have cost some political careers in PAA,” he said.
“Needless to mention, those decisions cost PAA Kilifi at the ballot notwithstanding a few strategic blunders we repeatedly committed in the governor campaign. Many seats are gone. Promising political careers are dimmed.”
In 2017, ODM won 27 of the 35 MCA seats. It also swept all seven parliamentary seats as well as governor, senator and woman rep.
In Kwale, ODM was expected to lose all parliamentary seats.
UDA seemed likely to retain the Msambweni seat, and UDM, ANC and PAA looked like they would take Lunga Lunga, Matuga and Kinango.
In Lunga Lunga, former Kwale Education executive Mangale Chiforomodo of UDM was ahead of his closest competitor and incumbent MP Khatib Mwashetani of UDA.
Chiforomodo, a former teacher, is vying for the first time while Mwashetani is defending the seat for the third time.
In Msambweni, Feisal Bader seemed to be making a comeback. He is defending his seat for the second time through UDA.
Results from polling stations put him ahead of Mwakulonda Hassan.
Bader was elected last year in a by-election after the death of Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori.
Dori succumbed to cancer in March 2020.
Bader vied on as an independent with the support of Deputy President William Ruto and Governor Salim Mvurya.
In the by-election, he garnered 15,252 votes to trounce ODM's Omar Boga.
Before that, Bader served as Dori's personal assistant. He is also related to Dori.
In Matuga constituency, current MP Kassim Tandaza of ANC was battling to defend his seat for a second term.
In Kinango, former MP Gonzi Rai has recaptured his seat through PAA.
In 2017, he lost the seat to Benjamin Tayari of UDA.
Rai has garnered 16,331 votes against Tayari's 13,025.
Edited by A.N