Mombasa governor candidates Hassan Omar and Suleiman Shahbal at a past event. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
Mombasa governor candidates Suleiman Shahbal of Jubilee and Wiper's Hassan Omar have said they will challenge Hassan Joho’s re-election in court.
Shahbal and Omar have maintained that the election was rigged in favour of Joho.Joho retained his seat after garnering 221,177 against Shahbal’s 69,515 votes. Omar came in third with 43,787 votes.Speaking during an interview with the Star on Friday, Shahbal said the elections in Mombasa were not free and fair.“Other aspects came in handy for our opponent. The election was rigged but I still serve locals without holding political office,” said Shahbal.The Jubilee point man in Mombasa said he is committed to serving residents and developing the county despite not holding elective office."Our aim was to change Mombasa and this can be achieved even without holding political seats. There are many roads leading to Rome," he added, as quoted by the daily.Meanwhile, a member of Omar’s secretariat team has said the outgoing Senator is compiling evidence and will soon file a petition in court."Omar is yet to concede and this proves something is being worked on. It doesn’t make sense for Joho to get such votes. We suspect collusion between the county government and national government. Such massive win can only be pulled with the help of the State,” said the official, who spoke to the Star on condition of anonymity.Joho will be sworn in on August 22, 2017.