Former Kisauni MP Anania Mwaboza is facing a political reality check after his and Suleiman Shahbal pair was trounced by Governor Hassan Joho in the Mombasa gubernatorial race during the August 8, 2017 elections.
Mwaboza who represented Kisauni for three years after succeeding the late Karisa Maitha in 2004 has struggled politically for the past 11 years since losing his seat to Joho during the 2007 political contest.
His push to make a comeback in 2013 backfired when he was handed second defeat by Rashid Bedzimba, a key Joho associate. However, he was given a political lifeline by Deputy President William Ruto who made him his legal advisor.
Keen to make amends to his past two humiliations at the ballot, he declared his intention to challenge Joho in 2017.
However, in a deal that was brokered by Ruto, it was agreed that Mwaboza would be Shahbal’s running mate in the party’s move to oust Joho.
The move could not bear fruits as the firebrand ODM deputy party leader stamped his authority on Mombasa politics with a resounding win.
With President Uhuru Kenyatta recently coming to the rescue of Shahbal with a government job, Mwaboza’s own fate has been thrown into limbo with no job offer so far.