NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka during a rally in Mombasa on Friday August 5, 2017. [Photo: Hassan Joho/ facebook.com]NASA presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga on Friday played it safe during an opposition rally in Mombasa, by failing to endorse a candidate for the county’s top seat.
This is after the sibling rivalry between the incumbent, Governor Hassan Joho of ODM and Senator Hassan Omar who is contesting the seat on a Wiper ticket, took centre stage during the rally which was held at Mama Ngina grounds.
Chaos erupted after Joho’s supporters started jeering in an attempt to prevent Omar from addressing the rally.
After the crowd calmed down, Raila, who is taking a fourth stab at the Presidency, called both Joho and Omar to the podium and asked residents to vote for their preferred candidate.
“Joho’s supporters should vote for him while Hassan Omar’s supporters should vote for Omar,” said Raila,
Omar and Joho have been trading jabs for the past several months, with the Senator accusing Joho of failing to keep his pre-election pledges.
Omar has on several occasions argued that the economy of the region will suffer if Joho retains the seat.
On his part, Joho has accused Omar of being funded by Jubilee to vie for the seat, in a bid to bring him down, claims the Senator has since denied.