Suleiman Shahbar drops Mombasa gubernatorial race in favor of MP Nasir
Suleiman Shahbar drops Mombasa gubernatorial race in favor of MP Nasir: Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir will run for the Mombasa governor seat on ODM tickets after businessman Suleiman Shahbar dropped out of the race.
On Friday, Suleiman ditched Jubilee in favor of a party led by Raila Odinga, saying he had shelved his ambitions because he believed in a unified ODM for the coastal city.
Shahbar will then run for the party ahead of the elections in August.
“I’ve aspired to be governor for 10 years. But it doesn’t matter that I lead these changes … it matters that these changes have to happen,” Shahbar said.
For his part, Nasir thanked his rivals for abandoning ambitions to improve the Orange Party.
Lawmakers said he and Shahbar would merge their manifesto and campaign.
“He’s a worthy contender, and we all want a good Mombasa. I know Baba, you said you’d get him involved in national politics, but we need him to work in Mombasa,” the lawmaker said.
Raila said Shahbal stepping down was an act of bravery and loyalty to the party.
“I want to thank Shahbal for taking this bold decision,” said the former prime minister.
The deal also includes Senator Mohammad Faki, who will now defend his seat.
Raila is flanked by ODM deputy leader Hassan Joho and National Assembly minority leader Junet Mohamed.
Joho noted that both Nassir and Shahbal are worthy and solid contenders who will be in full swing right now.
Joho: Suleiman Shahbal is a worthy gubernatorial candidate but he made the decision to support Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir. We want to thank him. We will now merge our teams to form a great ODM team that will ensure ODM carries all seats in Mombasa county pic.twitter.com/ATVo70g8fN
— KTN News (@KTNNewsKE) April 15, 2022
“I don’t take Shahbar’s magnanimity for granted. He is a strong candidate, but he decided to support Nasir for reasons of unity,” the Mombasa governor said.
Also read:
lavish coast governor grace DJ Pierra Makena Park N Chill occasion
