When he was elected Kongowea MCA in 2013, Jabess Mdhai Oduo was seen as a new breed of politicians expected to take over the country's political leadership which had long been dominated by the old guard.
But things never went as expected. Five years later, the once promising youthful politician finds himself in an awkward political dilemma after his heavy loss during the 2017 general election.
In Mombasa County Assembly that was dominated by ODM, Oduor was elected Minority Leader. However, his tenure was short lived as he started a series of battles with the Executive that sealed his fate.
At one point, he was caught up in a Sh4.2 million scandal where he allegedly received the said cash under false pretence. But not ready to go down easily, he fought back by sponsoring a bill to have the county's Executive Commmitee Member Walid Khalid impeached.
Later, he was caught up in another scandal where he was accused of irregularly acquiring county land. But being a battle-hardened soldier, he survived again.
With his relationship with his political mentor-turned-foe, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho damaged beyond repair, he charted his own political path by ditching ODM and literally assumed the leader of opposition role in the Mombasa County Assembly.
He frequntly fired scathing attacks at Joho even as he declared his intention to vie for Mombasa Senator seat on a Wiper ticket. He however lost to ODM's Mohamed Faki.
Since his 2017 poll loss, the firebrand Oduor has maintained uncharacteristically low political profile.
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