Mombasa governor aspirant Suleiman Shabhal at a media briefing. [Photo/ nation.co.ke]
The gubernatorial debate in Mombasa organised by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) flopped after Jubilee governor hopeful Suleiman Shabhal was the only candidate who attended the event.
The other three aspirants - Governor Hassan Joho (ODM), Senator Hassan Omar (Wiper) and VPD’s Nyali MP Hezron Awiti snubbed the debate.The debate had been scheduled to take place at the Nyali beach International Hotel on Friday.Speaking to Baraka FM, KAM coast chapter chair Jinal Shah said the governor aspirants were expected to sell their manifestos and convince voters to elect them.“The aspirants were supposed to outline their economic and business agenda and as well as outline their proposed revenue spending,” said Shah, as quoted by the daily.Shah said all the candidates had been informed about the debate a month ago, adding that it is unfortunate they chose to give the event a wide berth.According to the daily, Senator Omar sent an apology for not participating in the debate. However, Joho and Awiti did not respond to calls from the organizers. On his part, Shahbal criticised his opponents for snubbing the debate. “This is so clear, my political rivals cannot be trusted in holding any public office anywhere in this country. It is a disgrace, quite a disgrace for my opponents to skip such an official event. This is a public office which requires a lot of commitment, transparency and accountability of county resources,” he said.