Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar with Nyali MP Hezron Awiti and Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka at a past event. Photo/ the-star.co.ke

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The Mombasa gubernatorial race is expected to take a different twist after Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Party opted to create a special panel to decide who between Senator Hassan Omar and Nyali MP Hezron Awiti will battle it out with the incumbent, Governor Hassan Joho in the August elections.

Both Omar and Awiti have expressed confidence in unseating Joho, in what is likely to be one of the toughest political contests at the county level.

According to The Star, members of the secret panel are being closely monitored to avoid any external influence as the party seeks to win the seat.

Cord co-principal Kalonzo will arbitrate over the exercise.

On his part, Joho has affirmed that he will retain his seat in the August polls as President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee front businessman Suleiman Shahbal to challenge him for the seat.

Professor Rocha Chimera of Pwani University, who is also a political analyst, said Joho will have to put up a spirited fight in a bid to trounce an Omar-Awiti combination.