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Kenya: I Have No Preferred Successor, Says Hassan Joho

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4 years ago

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Faced with a dilemma of endorsing his deputy yet two of his close associates are also jostling to succeed him, Governor Hassan Joho has opted not to take sides in the Mombasa county chief’s contest.

While Mr William Kingi has been his loyal deputy during the second term, the entry into the gubernatorial race by his long-time backer Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir and rival-turned-ally businessman Suleiman Shahbal has the governor at crossroads.

The three are eyeing the ODM ticket to run for the governor’s seat in a contest that has also attracted Kisauni MP Ali Mbogo (Wiper) and former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

Dr Kingi, who has been Mr Joho’s second-in-command since 2017 when the governor fell out with his former deputy, is banking on their cordial relations to secure the governor’s support.

The former lecturer has been managing county affairs whenever his boss is away for official and business trips abroad, sometimes even for months.

Mr Joho has praised him as a competent leader.

“There was no leadership vacuum; my able deputy is always in-charge. He is very competent,” Mr Joho said responding to criticism that he was abdicating his duty as county chief given his long absence.

Mended fences

Mr Shahbal, Mr Joho’s arch rival in the 2013 and 2017 elections, defected from the ruling Jubilee party to join ODM where Mr Joho is the deputy party leader.

Since the governor’s re-election in 2017, the two have mended fences and Mr Shahbal has joined the governor in initiating projects, the latest being the Sh6 billion Buxton housing project.

In 2017, when Mr Joho won with 221, 177 votes, Mr Shahbal was runner-up with 69,515 votes while Mr Omar, then a Wiper candidate, garnered 43, 787 votes.

Mr Nassir, son of the late veteran Kanu politician Sharif Nassir, had hoped that being an ODM MP, and one close to both Mr Joho and ODM party leader Raila Odinga, he would secure the governor’s endorsement.

Both Mr Nassir and Dr Kingi have openly tried to persuade the governor to back them, often in forums where both are in attendance, an appeal Mr Joho has avoided to commit to until recently when he declared he had no preferred successor.

On Monday, in the presence of the two, Mr Joho announced he will not endorse anyone ahead of next year’s General Elections.