Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi and his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Joho at a past event. Photo/the-star.co.ke
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi are among Coast ODM politicians who have clinched direct tickets in readiness for the August polls.On Monday, ODM dished out nomination certificates to over 800 aspirants from MCAs to governors, who will battle it out with their rivals from other parties in the upcoming general election.Joho and Kingi will lead the Orange party's brigade as it seeks to retain it's supremacy in Coast against President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Jubilee Party who have recently been making forays in the region, a move that has seen several opposition leaders defect to his camp.The other ODM aspirants who will not need to crack their heads over nomination certificates are MPs Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir of Mvita and Rashid Bedzimba (Kisauni).Lamu Governor aspirant Abdalla Mohamed Fadhil (Lamu) and Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo will not have to burn the midnight oil over the same.The lucky politicians received their certificates from party leader Raila Odinga, at an event that was held at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi.“Today, we give certificates to some of our hardest working and strongest aspirants and set them free to focus on the big battle of August elections. Some of you have been honoured by your constituents because of the dedication with which you have served the nation," Raila said as the Nation reports.The former prime minister further rallied his members to shun violence during the primaries and asked the National Elections Board to deal firmly with aspirants who will engage in election violence, fraud and bribery during the exercise.Raila also took a swipe at the Jubilee administration accusing it of being incompetent and corrupt.He told the aspirants to focus on their campaigns and ensure NASA wins in August.The ODM nominations kick off on Friday and will run until to April 21 in 26 counties.