Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his running mate William Kingi in Old Town. [Photo/ nation.co.ke]
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho on Thursday named university don William Kingi as his running mate ahead of the bruising gubernatorial contest in August.
Kingi, who is said to possess ‘Joho-like’ courage in taking rivals head-on, did not hesitate to show why the fiery Mombasa Governor settled on him, as he immediately fired his first salvo at President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Speaking in Old Town during his unveiling, Kingi hit out at Uhuru over his move to issue title deeds to Mombasa residents in January 2016, saying it is not enough to solve the thorny land issue in the region.
"Coming here to issue one or two title deeds does not solve the land question....cosmetic solutions to land issues will never work,” said the Technical University of Mombasa lecturer in his acceptance speech as Joho's running mate.
With Joho becoming the source of Uhuru's headache in the region, the entry of Kingi will further embolden the ODM deputy party as the two complement each other.
Joho admitted that his decision to settle on Kingi as his running mate was influenced by his (Kingi's) courage.
"Mombasa does not need a leader who can be intimidated,” said Joho.