Malindi MP hopeful Philip Charo at a past event. [Photo/ nation.co.ke]
Philip Charo has been declared the winner of the Jubilee Party primaries for the Malindi parliamentary seat after garnering 9,269 votes against Peter Mwanana's 1,135.Following the win, Charo who lost to Willy Mtengo in the March 2016 by-election will now face ODM's Aisha Jumwa who trounced Mtengo in the primaries.Also in the race is Wiper Party's Rashid Odhiambo and an independent candidate Harry Mwimali.Speaking after he was announced the winner,Charo exuded confidence that he will overcome the combative ODM candidate Jumwa who is seen as the front runner for the seat.According to Charo, Jubilee has made significant inroads in the region after the fiercely contested by-election."Last year, Jubilee parry was not popular...now people are scrambling for votes," he said.Mtengo who is the incumbent is yet to decide on his next political move after losing to Jumwa.However, he leaves his options open including teaming up with Charo to deny the firebrand ODM candidate victory.Should he make good his threat to support Charo, then Jumwa may be forced to go back to the drawing board to strategize on how to upset the status quo.