Lunga Lunga MP-elect Khatib Mwashetani at a past event. [Photo/the-star.co.ke]
He beat all the odds to be re-elected an MP in a pro-opposition region, an outcome that has now elevated his political stature to a new level even as a supremacy battle between Jubilee and ODM parties in the race to control the Coast region intensifies.
Lunga Lunga MP Khatib Mwashetani is the man to watch ahead of the 2022 elections, a period that may shape the region's political landscape.Mwashetani garnered 12,359 votes to floor seasoned politicians during the August 8 polls including ODM's candidate Omar Zonga who once served as Msambweni MP.Zonga came in a distant third in a battle that was seen to be between Raila Odinga and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho on one side and rebel politicians on the other side.With Joho wildly regarded as the region's political kingpin, his political dominance may come to an end in the near future as Mwashetani emerges as a real political force that cannot be wished away.Mwashetani is the only MP from the Coast region to survive the NASA wave that swept all the rebel MPs, a true confirmation to his growing political influence.