Kwale County gubernatorial aspirant Issa Chipera has told Kenyan Ambassador to Tanzania Chirau Ali Mwakwere to prepare for a fierce battle as he seeks to unseat Governor Salim Mvurya in next year's polls.
Speaking at Kinondo’s ODM office, Issa said that the party will ensure free and fair nominations in the region before the elections.
“We, the ODM aspirants for the Kwale County gubernatorial seat, would like to warmly welcome our brother Ambassador Ali Chirau Mwakwere to the party and remind him that ODM is the most popular party in Kenya,” said Chipera, as quoted by Citizen.
This comes a few weeks after Mwakwere is said to have held a meeting with Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) leader Raila Odinga and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.
The Kwale gubernatorial race is considered one of the toughest considering the number of aspirants who will lock horns with Mvurya.
The governor recently decamped to Jubilee over fear of being rigged out during nominations.
Some of the aspirants include Issa Chipera, Fomer Permanent Secretary Mohammed Mwachai Mwarapayo, Gereza Dena, Kwale County Speaker Sammy Ruwa, Nicholas Zani, and Mwakwere.
Mwakwere will be banking on the support of Raila and Joho to re-enter the political arena come 2017.