Nyali MP elect Mohammed Ali.He has explained how he managed to win the seat despite a strong challenge from a cousin to Mombasa governor Hassan Joho.Photo/kenyatoday.com.With many people having written him off after losing out on the ODM party ticket to a 'politically connected' fellow, celebrated journalist Mohammed Ali knew that odds were seriously against his political quest and that he needed to rally himself together if he was to offer any meaningful challenge after the first knockout.
But Ali, famed for his 'Jicho Pevu' investigative series believed the Nyali parliamentary seat was his to lose despite the strong ODM wave that threatened to crush his political ambition before it could blossom.
In a recent interview with KTN, Ali revealed how he finally managed to beat Saidi Abdalla alias 'Saido',a cousin to Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.
"After the loss in the ODM primaries I decided to re-strategize since I was facing a no ordinary opponent.So I decided to do a door to door campaign.My main message to the residents of Nyali was that I had a plan to reform their lives, that much as I was not having as much money as my opponent I would nonetheless offer them the right leadership and deliver my pledges once elected", he said.
" And the message seemed to resonate with them so well that they entrusted ne with the seat", he added.
He added that contrary to a widely held belief that Nyali is occupied by the high and mighty in society, poverty is actually the order of the day, a situation he promised to address exhaustively.
Ali who ran as an independent candidate garnered 26,539 votes beating ODM's Abdalla and other 12 other candidates hands down.