Tourism Minister Najib Balala to lead Jubilee Presidential campaigns in the Coast region. [Photo/Daily Nation]
After many months of a protracted feud in the Jubilee leadership in the Coast region, Mombasa County gubernatorial race loser Suleiman Shahbal who has been President Uhuru Kenyatta's campaign coordinator in the region has lost his position which has now been taken by Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.
Accused of failing to deliver the region's votes to the Jubilee presidential candidate during the August 8 polls, Shahbal's exit from the top leadership of the party in the region was seen by many as a matter of when rather than if.
The politician's growing unpopularity in the region played out in front of Deputy President William Ruto on Friday when he was shouted down by angry party supporters. And Ruto had to take action-replace him with Balala, a one-time formidable politician in the region.
After a humiliating past that saw the party fail to win any elective seat in Mombasa and Kilifi counties, Jubilee is keen to reverse the trend in the repeat presidential contest.
"We must address the flaws that were witnessed before and during the August 8 poll.The party agents will, henceforth, not be supervised at the party headquarters in Nairobi. Party agents for the October 17 presidential election will be picked by officials at the grassroots level," Ruto said.