Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho at a past media briefing. Photo/ the-star.co.ke
With Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho's bid to defend his seat during the August elections hanging on the balance amid claims of forging his KCSE certificate, his bitter rival Suleiman Shahbal says he wants to see him (Joho) on the ballot so that he can beat him.
Shahbal's statement comes barely a week after his fellow Mombasa governor hopeful Hassan Omar asked the government not to bar Joho from contesting.Speaking in Mombasa on Tuesday when he officially resigned as Gulf African Bank Chairman, Shahbal exuded confidence that he is the man to beat in the race for the county's top seat, despite opinion polls suggesting he is trailing the incumbent by a huge margin.Defending their absence from the public scene, Shahbal and his running mate Ananiah Mwaboza said they had been carrying door-to-door campaigns even as they consolidate their numbers ahead of the real test come August."Not inviting the media to our meetings does not mean we have not been meeting people,” said Shahbal. said.According to Shahbal, they have been meeting various groups including student leaders, people living with disabilities and artistes in their bid to tilt political scales in their favour.