Former Mombasa gubernatorial candidate Suleiman Shahbal is among the biggest losers after failing to make it to President Uhuru Kenyatta's new cabinet.
Shahbal who has flopped twice in his quest for Mombasa Governor, losing twice to the current County Chief Hassan Joho, has been the face of Jubilee Party in Mombasa, the region that is quite receptive to ODM.
Even after losing to Joho on August 8, 2017, poll, businessman remained steadfast in Jubilee campaigning for Uhuru ahead of the October 26 repeat Presidential election.
Prior to that, he delivered nearly 100,000 votes to Uhuru which is a good return especially from a county where the party is unpopular. And just to underscore his commitment to the party, Shahbal reportedly used to fund the party activities.
And after Uhuru had won the controversial repeat poll, Shahbal was among the front runners to make it to the new cabinet. But it was not to be. The 'curse' of playing in the shadows of Tourism Minister Najib Balala became his setback. Being an established politician and a longtime Deputy President William Ruto ally, Shahbal was overlooked in favour of the former Mvita MP. Neither was he allocated the newly-created Chief Administrative Secretaries slot.
With the President set to complete the process of filling the Principal Secretaries slots, can he finally be given a political lifeline? Or will be taken to head one of the parastatals?
With Joho completing his position in 2022, will Shahbal consider running again? If on Jubilee party, then he will face a bruising battle from former Senator Hassan Omar who may as well try his luck after the 2017 debacle. But for Shahbal, Uhuru's next step may shape up his political trajectory.