Mombasa. KENYA: Mombasa Jubilee party gubernatorial hopeful running mate Anania Mwaboza has refuted claims of being bribed to forfeit his ambition of vying for the county’s top job, in favor of Suleiman Shahbal.
The former Kisuani Member of Parliament was touted to beat Shahbal in the Jubilee nominations only to drop his interest few months to the primaries raising eyebrows from different quarters.
This came after a series of close door meetings between the two leaders rumored to be chaired by Deputy President William Ruto, aimed at coming up with a formidable team that will unseat incumbent Governor Alli Hassan Joho.
However, during ‘Chanja Maswala’ show at Baraka FM Tuesday night, the former assistant minister for Immigration accused his opponents for spreading what he termed as fabricated information against him.
‘’Nobody can bribe me to comprise my ambition, we both wanted to take over the leadership of Mombasa thus we resolved to come up with a team who will find the best among us,’’
‘’After consultations with different leaders and groups, the team settled for Shahbal as the flag bearer and me as his running mate, so those claiming Mwaboza received cash to support Shahbal are pushing their own agenda,’’ said Mwaboza.
He further refuted claims that Mombasa is opposition NASA stronghold, and just like 2013, Shahbal will again lose to Joho in the August polls.
‘’Jubilee has taken over Mombasa, people want change and that will only come by voting out those who are leading this city currently,’’ he added.
His sentiments however remain subject to discussion, since the latest opinion poll ranked Joho as the most preferred candidate in the Mombasa gubernatorial race.
Senator Hassan Omar who is contesting the seat on Wiper party ticket came second with Suleiman Shahbal of Jubilee coming third in the poll conducted in April.
