Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar has accused Governor Hassan Joho of lacking ideologies that can take the county to the next level.
The senator said Joho only has money to influence Mombasa residents to vote for him in next year's general election.
The outspoken senator said he cannot be compared to Joho when it comes to ideologies.
“It’s a clear contest between ideology and money. As far as I am concerned, this is one of the challenges that I know I will overcome with distinction. You know everybody tells me that Joho has money, Joho has this thing, you know the hooliganism,” said Omar.
“But no one has ever told me that Joho has great ideas, or Joho has made big pronouncements, or Joho has made certain contributions or sacrifices in the process of democratic struggles. And so for me, I know, the tide of money and hype is far much easier to overturn than the tide of ideas and vision,” he added.
He expressed confidence of beating Joho in 2017 saying residents in the county voted for him as their senator in 2013 because they respond to ideology.
He said he had commissioned an audit of the governor’s performance based on his manifesto and would soon do a report on the status of the county.
“Right now the county has been personalised; it has become a franchise, it’s captive to invisible interests, captive to an invisible governor, captive to cartels, nepotism, driven by acute greed and exclusion,” he said, as quoted by Standard.
He said if elected as governor, he would turn Mombasa into a model county that is responsive to problems of insecurity, radicalisation and drug abuse in a manner that appreciates the value of collective security for all and through offering young people meaningful economic opportunities and openings.
Omar vowed to mobilize residents in the county to vote for him in the next general election.