Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar in one of his recent campaign rallies. [Photo: Hassan Omar/ facebook.com]
As Mombasa gubernatorial aspirants up their game ahead of the titanic battle in the August 8 polls, the real contest is shaping up into a two-horse race pitting Governor Joho and Senator Hassan Omar.
Jubilee's Suleiman Shahbal's biggest letdown is his choice of party, which is not faring well in the county that is locked up in opposition politics.On the other side, Nyali MP Hezron Awiti has no political clout to make him a serious contender of the seat. This therefore means that the real battle is between Joho and Omar.Omar goes into the race as an underdog if Joho's new-found fame and popularity is anything to go by. But Omar may pull another shocker in 2017 having done the same in 2013 when he sent Ramadhan Kajembe to retirement.Both Omar and Joho enjoy a huge following in the county if the 2013 results is anything to go by.Omar garnered 130,605 in a fiercely contested election while Joho polled 132,583 votes.Whereas Joho's administration has always come under sharp criticism, Omar in his capacity as a Senator to provide oversight has done well in the Senate.Joho is riding on ODM's popularity and the advantage of incumbency to defend his seat even as he focuses on NASA campaigns to drum up support for Raila Odinga in his quest to unseat President Uhuru Kenyatta.On his side, Omar is not leaving anything to chance as he has increased his grassroots presence with a well-packaged message to contrast himself from the incumbent.With Omar's resurgence, Joho will be forced to rethink his strategy as any form of complacence will gift his bitter rival the seat.