•Aharub Khatri had managed to submit the dully filled nomination paper with the requisite documents.
• As per the law, for one to vie for the speaker’s seat, he or she must get a proposer and a seconder, both elected members of the county assembly one is vying for.
Aharub Khatri has been declared speaker of the County Assembly of Mombasa. https://bit.ly/3C55wLd
Image: COURTESY
Aharub Khatri has been declared speaker of the County Assembly of Mombasa.
He was sworn into office by the Mombasa county assembly clerk at 1:30 pm.
He was elected unopposed after nine other candidates who had shown interest in the position failed to submit their duly filed nomination papers before the deadline date.
In a communication from the office of the Clerk of the County Assembly of Mombasa dated September 21, the clerk Salim Juma stated that only one candidate, Aharub Khatri, had managed to submit the dully filled nomination paper with the requisite documents.
"Pursuant to standing order No. 5(2) of the Mombasa County Assembly Standing Orders, the following person (Aharub Khatri) submitted the dully filled nomination paper with the requisite documents by Wednesday 21, September 2022 which was gazette as the deadline of submission as per the law,” read part of the statement.
The seat had attracted a total of ten candidates including Khatri, former Freetown Ward Member of County Assembly Charles Kitula and Rishi Aruu Parikh and Stephen Samo who both vied for the Mvita MP and the Mkomadi Ward MCA seats respectively.
Others who had shown interest include; Ali Mwalimu a Mombasa-based radio journalist, Mombasa businessman Mohammed Zuber and Derrick Odiwour, among others.
“I don't know about the others but for me, I decided not to return the form after getting wind that Khatri was going to retain his seat,” said Mwalimu.
Samo told Star that he picked the form and had managed to get a proposer and seconder as required.
As per the law, for one to vie for the speaker’s seat, he or she must get a proposer and a seconder, both elected members of the county assembly one is vying for.
“I had my form duly signed and also got clearance from IEBC to vie. But my proposer and seconder withdrew at the last minute asking me not to submit the form,” said Samo.
Kitula of Freetown simply said that he had stepped down in favour of Khatri.
Parikh who vied for the Mvita MP seat on a Kadu Asili party ticket said that he could not find any MCA ready to propose and second him.
“I was ready to submit my form but no sitting MCA was ready to propose and second me, none of them obliged, I think the other candidates suffered the same fate too,” he said.