Mombasa County Secretary Francis Thoya at a past event. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
On Thursday last week, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho started his re-election journey by unveiling his running mate.
But contrary to the expectations of many people, political novice William Kingi was unveiled as his deputy.
Reports indicate that Mombasa County Secretary Francis Thoya had been picked to deputize Joho. However, people close to the Governor had to intervene to ensure that he is dropped in favour of Dr Kingi, a university don.
Sources close to the happenings in Mombasa told The Star that Thoya had to be dropped as he could pose a threat to Joho’s succession plan in 2022.
According to the source, Thoya who is outspoken would gain too much ground and run for the top county seat in 2022, and the fact that he cannot be manipulated means that he can’t protect Joho family interests’ after 2022.
The source further said that Kingi who was plucked from the university lecture rooms isn’t a threat as he is a political greenhorn who doesn’t possess Thoya’s political clout.
According to The Star, a meeting to prevail upon Joho to dump Thoya lasted until midnight before the fiery Governor succumbed to the pressure of the members of his inner circle to settle on Dr Kingi.