[Governor Hassan Joho with Raila Odinga in a past event. Tw our his allies will serve in powerful house leadership positions. Photo/Nation]
In his quest to stamp authority in the ODM party, two allies of Mombasa Governors Hassan Joho will be taking over influential parliamentary positions in the new list that is due to be unveiled.
Last week, coastal MPs from the Orange party had protested the decision by the party to sideline them in key house leadership positions, a move that necessitated an urgent meeting chaired by Raila Odinga.
At Riverside Drive in Nairobi, Odinga succumbed to pressure from the Coastal legislators, who are loyal to the stylish governor by relinquishing two powerful seats.
The revisited house leadership positions will have Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir as Vice Chair of powerful Public Investment Committee while Malindi lawmaker Aisha Jumwa will seat in PSC.
“We delivered a lot to ODM and we deserve something better. We shall not recognize the new arrangement in parliament,” read a statement by the MPs.
But in a quick rejoinder to avert the rebellion, Odinga through Philip Etale said: “We are working on the sharing formula and it will be prudent to ignore the list circulated by the media.”
Through Coastal MPs, Joho is positioning himself for top office in 2022 as the battle for succession with the ODM party kicks off.