The commotion in which bottles were thrown to the dais and a video on that purported differences among Raila Odinga allies at a rally in Mombasa brought to the fore the intensity of the governor race.
Among other aspirants, it pits Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir against businessman Suleiman Shahbal, who are seeking the ODM ticket.
The Star's Moses Odhiambo and Eliud Kibii interviewed Nassir on the county's top race, Azimio politics, nominations and Coast politics.
How do you find the governor race so far?
One thing has given me a lot of courage in this race. The polls we have been doing internally and those done externally by other pollsters have proved beyond reasonable doubt we are on another level with the love coming from the people. We're on another level altogether.
Does Suleiman Shahbal pose a serious challenge to you?
The only challenge I have is to be better than I was yesterday. The challenge is not winning the election but making sure the issues that the people have raised on the campaign trail [are addressed]. It's an issue of the Mombasa we want, nothing else.
I do not see we having an unnecessary challenge because our biggest asset is the people. I'm not a businessman. I am a servant. My currency is the people. My business is serving so for me to be able to get rich is by serving the people more. Then my turnover becomes larger, my savings become bigger, so that at any given time, even at my worst of days, I have a cushion. The cushion that I have is the people. I have never deserted them in anything.
The numbers of 2017 show Mombasa has more than 500,000 voters...(breakdown of constituencies). What do these numbers tell you about this race?
Political boundaries are nothing except boundaries for purposes of serving the people so we can devolve services. Those services are devolved from constituency levels to ward levels to village levels but the needs and desires are the same.
If, for argument's sake, by the end of this month, employees at the Kenya Ports Authority will be paid their arrears that have been due for so many years, it would be courtesy of the Mvita MP who raised these matters in the National Assembly, who fought for them. I pushed the whole Labour Committee to visit Mombasa. The committee summoned the management of Kenya Ports Authority and the CS for Treasury to ensure we serve our people.
This is the same MP who when traders were being locked up in places like the public beach and other areas like Mama Ngina Drive, it was I who served them.
At the end of the day, you have to realise all these people don't necessarily come from the constituency; the interests and where they live traverse all these constituencies and again we're so cosmopolitan and Mombasa is small in terms of movement as well. When one person moves about, the likelihood that he or she will be moving from one constituency to another is extremely high.
So there is a likelihood that you would have already passed through Kerra road that we built. There is a likelihood that you might be sleeping in another constituency but your child studies in Mvita constituency.
You are seeking to succeed your friend Governor Joho who has served two terms. What influence does he have in his succession?
He has one vote, which I am asking him for. But ultimately at the end of the day, my desire is to learn, to learn twofold — from the successes he has had, so that I can try to achieve more and also to learn from the mistakes that he made. We're all human. Mine is not to mock his mistakes. If you want to actually study and learn something, you should even learn more from people's mistakes.
So my role is to actually learn and I want to learn from the mistakes that were made previously. What can we do to ensure that we pay salaries on time, to have the basic issues like street lighting, the drainage systems, the sewage systems, what can we do to make the economy of Mombasa churn out more?
What policies should we negotiate with the national government? What projects should we negotiate with the national government? Is it the Dongo Kundu, the bypass? The first assignment of the county assembly of Mombasa, once we get in, is to come up with Acts that are going to allow us to have some special economic zones as well.
Following the recent opinion polls, which showed the UDA has eaten into Raila’s vote base in the Coast, which you are banking on. Does this bother you?
No. When you go into polls, always go into the details. A normal survey will talk about in excess of 1,000 respondents. They did about a third of what should be the minimum threshold, 400 respondents. The other opinion poll reports that have been released this week have different figures.
Mombasa seems charged for your leadership, what could be the stumbling blocks in the race to succeed Joho?
There is a saying that these elections are yours to lose. Sometimes we do things without realising the repercussions would have such multiple effects. And the repercussions of the actions that we have done have been so positive.
I'll give you a small example. Years before I became an MP, I studied a feeding program for all candidates in primary school. Some of those candidates today are working. You can imagine someone who grew up in a slum and would have failed to do the exam or would have had to do those exams on an empty stomach.
We had no serious funding, actually, we've never used CDF funding. It's all been goodwill from people. We came up with tuition programmes during those days before it was banned. It helped so many students lift their grades from where they were to where they're meant to be.
We had programmes like the school dairy programmes and outreach programmes, where we convince people to stay away from drugs and all that. These are things that have been continuous.
We have programmes to rehabilitate people using drugs so don't expect these people to forget. We also had a programme called 'Skills Mitaani'. The people who have failed to go into institutions of higher learning were given vocational training. Today, there are thousands of people who are earning a livelihood from the courses.
A number of times, we've been able to talk about issues at the National Assembly, issues that are affecting our livelihood. I've been on record as the person who singlehandedly, and my colleagues joined me in those amendments, opposing privatisation of the port.
There are a number of motions, the number of questions and statements that I was able to put into place. The petition against compulsory use of the SGR, which Parliament actually supported, endorsed and approved was signed by myself. So all these things that we do, have positive impacts. And as I said my biggest currency is nothing but people.
Mombasa was quite hostile to President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013 and 2017. Is that going to change?
What our party leader did, which I think it is important to understand, is that we simply say let's not talk at each other but with each other. We strongly believe that we won the elections. I was with my party leader during his swearing-in ceremony as the people's president. I was with him at the Supreme Court, which declared those elections were null and void.
But ultimately, the country was burning. As I was telling you earlier, I was being tear-gassed every single Monday without fail. There was never a single Monday during those protests that ever passed without my being tear-gassed. This is a man who said, look gentlemen, we have to put the country before us. Yes, we won the election. Can we learn from his mistakes?
That's why the handshake came in. That is why we’ve never been shy of telling Uhuru of the issues that are there. We have raised these matters in and out of Parliament. We have raised them in his presence as well as in his absence as well.
How do you rate the Jubilee administration?
Well, it has had its flaws and success stories as well. Of course, it's funny how my colleagues on the other side are quick to actually shoot themselves in the foot. And then in the process, they are actually planning to take off the leg because they were part and parcel of it all.
You cannot just say that I am in a marriage, but it is only the good children that are mine and that the naughty ones are not mine, and thus they belong to someone else. We are not the stepfather because we've not formally merged with Jubilee.
So as it stands right now, Jubilee is a party, all these guys have not formally resigned. So they're part and parcel of it We need to ask about some of these issues that I hear them talking about — the debt ceiling and cost of food and everything else. Who are the ones who were here when we were fighting? It is the same people now claiming otherwise.
When Kilifi Governor Kingi talked of exclusion from Azimio, we also heard the same from Kazungu Katana? Are there cracks in the Coast?
We are yet to sign an MoU between us and PAA. We welcome any political coalition. We can't allow one particular incident [to obstruct it]. Look at how many parties. I think today I was reading the papers there are many parties that have so far confirmed to join Azimio – 23, so one would do what percentage?
Do you think Azimio shaping up as a crowded room?
Oh no, no. There's always room for everyone. The whole concept of Azimio was to bring everyone on board. How we're going to have mutual views and see solutions to issues. It is very simple. We have all agreed on one thing: let us not rob that person who is already naked. So this is what Azimio is all about.
We need to dress and not rob that person while the others are looking at a naked person and wishing to rob them, in the process giving them one shoe, and later on, come for the other shoe.
As Azimio, our philosophy is that we believe that we need to dress the naked person and the metaphor for this is we need to liven up their economy. You believe that the dress code for that person should be blue, another says it should be orange, and some go with green. Ultimately, whatever the dress code, that person is going to be covered.
Do you think ODM nominations will be free and fair? Any reservations about the process?
Let us have faith in our political parties. Of course, there's always the Political Parties Dispute Resolution Tribunal if anything happens, and thereafter, there's always theJudiciary.
Is there anything that may stand in your way before the date of the nomination?
Maybe just death; I cannot think of any other.
Your opponents say that you may not be cleared to run. Why would they say that?
As I said, when you get someone whose agenda is just you, it becomes a concern. Have you ever heard me talking about my opponents? It is because I have an agenda. I'd rather not waste my breath.
I use the labels that I have been given here, not necessarily to enrich myself. The other day at my committee meeting with Kenya Power, I was clear with them that I will never go to their office and ask for a contract or a tender. I will fight for the thousands of people who have been given notice to vacate, which by the way is something that I've also discussed with my party leader. We are in agreement that you cannot vacate people without giving him an alternative.
How do you assess your performance as chairman of the Public Investments Committee?
I thank God. We've been able to save taxpayers billions of shillings they would have lost. If you look at my previous reports, we were able to save this country Sh6 billion at NSSF. We've been able to say who needs to go to jail without fear. We have never, ever looked at ourselves in terms of saying that politically this person is wrong, or this person is right. As a matter of fact, if you want to know how, how transparent, I thank God we've been able to run the committee. I have never ever denied the media access to any information they seek.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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