Garissa Speaker Abass confident of winning Ijara MP seat

Garissa Speaker Ahmed Ibrahim Abass has expressed confidence in recapturing the Ijara parliamentary seat, which he lost to incumbent Sophia Abdi Noor.

Abass said his development track records during his tenure (2013-2017) gives him an edge over his competitors including Noor.

He spoke on Monday at Masalani Baraza park during the launch of his bid.

He said his eyes are fixed on the seat.

Abass lost the seat in 2017 to Noor, the first elected female MP in North Eastern.

While addressing his supporters during the launch of his campaign manifesto, Abass said it will be a walkover for him this time round.

Abass passed his Abokor Aden subclan primaries as the sole candidate two months ago. The clan is one of the biggest subclans in Ijara.

Ijara constituency which is in the south of Garissa town, is predominately inhabited by the Samawadhal clan of the larger Ogaden Somali clan.

Samawadhal has nine subclans: Abokor Aden, Hassan Aden, Abdikarim, Baha, Rer Suleiman, Ashantalis, Mahad Abdalla, Rer-Mohamed and Abdalla Muse.

Noor hails from the Hassan Aden clan. Abokor Adan and Hassan Adan are sibling clans.

The outgoing speaker said his life-changing development programmes on health, infrastructure and education have remained unmatched, endearing him to voters.

“I have represented Ijara in the past and I am riding on my previous development record to win me back the seat,” he said.

Abass who was flanked by Nominated Senator Falhada Iman and members of the Garissa Assembly said the developments he initiated were all stalled.

“When I was MP, I connected Ijara to the national electricity grid through a zero mile connectivity programme. Everyone knows what has happened in the last four years.

"Ijara people yearn for good leadership. They feel they have stagnated in all aspects of development. Under my leadership, the constituency will get back to its former development trajectory,”  he said.

The former MP said his priorities will be on education particularly offering scholarships to students taking teaching, medical and engineering courses.

Abass is contesting on an ODM ticket, the party he used to win the seat in 2013.

“I have made a deliberate decision to align myself with Azimio spearheaded by former prime minister Raila Odinga. I believe in his manifesto and the change he is promising to Kenyans," Abass said. 

"Raila is someone who has sacrificed a lot for this country. His history and record favours him to be the fifth president of this republic," he added.

Political pundits predict a two-horse race pitting Abass and Noor in Ijara constituency.

Noor was endorsed on Saturday by her Hassan Aden subclan in a controversial family meeting held in Kotile, the outskirts of Masalani town.

If Noor's discontent family members vote against her in favour of Abbass, she risks losing to him. Abbas lost to her in 2017 under a similar circumstance.

Majority of voters, mainly from the other eight subclans accuse her of skewed resource allocation and mismanagement of CDF. This coupled with poor response to last year's drought, threatens her re-election.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)