ODM Party leader Raila Odinga, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi at a past event. [Photo: Amason Kingi/ facebook.com]
For the third straight general election, ODM Party leader Raila Odinga continued to reign supreme in the Coast, a region that has been his political bedrock for over one decade now.
Just like in 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee outfit did not win even a single elective seat during the August 8 polls in Mombasa and Kilifi Counties, the heartland of the region's politics.According to Pwani University Professor Halim Shauri, Jubilee Party's dismal performance in the two counties can be attributed to the presence of Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi."The two counties are led by ODM's strongest point men in the Coast, Governor Joho and Governor Kingi. They had to demonstrate their powers to remain in the opposition's limelight by telling majority of the residents to back opposition,” said Prof Shauri, as quoted by the Nation.According to the university don, the two leaders had successfully managed to explain the injustices which the region had been subjected to and the electorate had fully understood them.Prof Shauri further added that Jubilee's failure to perform well in the region can also be blamed on their choice of politicians to lead the region’s campaigns.“Mung'aro and his brigades, for example, were lame ducks who could not match the ODM outfit led by Joho and Kingi,” he said.