Outgoing Lamu Women Rep Shakilla Abdalla during a past media briefing. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
The outcome of the August 8 poll has left outgoing Lamu Women Representative Shakilla Abdalla fighting for her political life after a shock loss.
Abdalla, who is also Kalonzo Musyoka's deputy in Wiper, was floored by a newcomer, Ruweida Mohamed Obo of Jubilee.According to the IEBC final tally, Obo garnered 23,146 votes against Abdalla's 13,387.Abdalla was first nominated to parliament in 2008 before joining elective politics in 2013 where she easily won the women rep seat on a Wiper ticket. However, her unexpected defeat has cut short her political journey even before it properly took off.The lawmaker's loss may be attributed to her hard-line stance on the proposed coal plant in the island county, a project that has elicited mixed reactions across the political spectrum.Besides that, there were early warning signs that the August 8 polls would leave many political casualties in the county as new alignments started to take shape, all in favour of Jubilee Party.Abdalla will be in the political cold for the first time in 10 years. However, she has the opportunity to redeem herself in 2022.