Mudavadi’s ANC taps out of Msambweni by election

By Tobyy Otum

Amani National Congress (ANC) political party is not interested in battling it out with ODM in the forthcoming Msambweni parliamentary by election scheduled for December 15.

ANC party national chairman Kelvin Lunani said the party is guided by its structures and organs and it would not just wake up and decide to field a candidate for the by election.

He said the party is run through rules and regulations which must be consulted first before deciding to field a candidate.

“ANC won’t field a candidate for the forthcoming Msambweni by election in Kwale county scheduled for December 15,” he said.

Lunani refuted claims the party has nominated Kwale KNUT official Bashir Kilalo to be the Msambweni parliamentary candidate ahead of the mini polls.

He was reacting on social media that the party has settled for Kilalo, a Jubilee Party loser during the 2017 general election.

The ANC chairperson said the party is not interested in going for the vacant parliamentary seat.

Lunani said the party wants to focus its energy on the 2022 general elections instead of the by election which comes hardly two years from the polls.

Meanwhile, Omar Idd Boga won the ODM ticket to vie for the Msambweni parliamentary seat after trouncing nominated Senator Agnes Zani’s brother Nicholas Zani with 6,183 votes to his 530 votes.

So far four aspirants have been cleared to succeed the late Suleiman Dori who died in March at the age of 42 while undergoing treatment at the Aga Khan hospital in Mombasa county before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

United Green Movement [UGM] party has settled for Dr Mohamed Mwakahonje for the much-awaited Msambweni by election.

Dr Mwakahonje hails from Ramisi ward which has 18,500 registered voters where ODM lost the civic seat to a little-known party, Chama Cha Mashinani.

Msambweni constituency has four wards with 68,500 registered voters with almost70 percent taking part during the last general election.

In the four wards ODM has three members of county assembly with the one seat being held by Chama Cha Mashinani.

Bongwe-Combato ward has 17,500 registered voters, Ukunda ward which is cosmopolitan and the deciding factor has 21,500 registered voters. Kinondo ward where the deceased hails from has 11,000 registered voters and Ramisi ward where ODM lost the civic seat has 18,500 registered voters.

Former personal assistant to the late legislator Suleiman Dori, Feisal Abdallah Badar, has declared his interest to succeed his boss on an independent party ticket after moving from his former party ODM

He told journalists he was uncomfortable with ODM primaries claiming they may taint his future political career.

He refuted claims that he is Deputy President William Ruto’s project saying he is a friend to any person who preaches peace in the country.

“When I had defected from ODM I accidentally happened to meet with Ruto and that is where the reference to me as Ruto’s project began,” he said.

The Wiper Democratic Movement [WIPER] Msambweni candidate, businessman Shee Abdulrahman, was unveiled by party leader Kalonzo Musyoka after he attended a church service at the Gospel Redeemed Church in Kwale county.