Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho with ODM Party leader Raila Odinga at a past event. Photo/ kenya-today.co.ke
ODM leader Raila Odinga on Sunday endorsed Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho's re-election bid in the forthcoming general election.Speaking during a rally in Nairobi’s Kibera, Raila said he was upbeat Joho would retain his seat come August.Recent opinion polls have also put Joho at a commanding lead against his rivals from both the Jubilee and Wiper parties.Raila’s endorsement comes in the wake of the challenges Joho is facing among them claims that he forged a KCSE result slip of 1992 to get university admission.The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is also probing the county chief over tax related offences allegations.But on Sunday, the former Prime Minister came to Joho’s defense and accused the government of being behind the governor's woes.He defended his deputy saying the Jubilee administration will not stop him from retaining his seat in the August General election.“If you break your cooking stick, it doesn’t mean it is the end of cooking. Joho stands for truth and whether Jubilee likes it or not, the governor of Mombasa will remain Hassan Joho," Raila said as quoted by the Nation.“They can go hang, but we will stand strong to ensure none of our members is touched by our enemies. Let them investigate their own fakes. We do not have any problem with them. We have our people and are ready to face them in the field,” he added.