By Jackson Omondi
Intra-coalition political battles are nothing new. In fact, if done correctly, the upshot is often healthy. The Mombasa County gubernatorial race is shaping up to be a biggie and the race to watch given the fact that the incumbent has made it clear that he will be a Presidential contender in 2022. His former ally-turned opponent, has other ideas and would love nothing more than to torpedo Governor Joho’s political trajectory.
That plan, took a thorough beating when the Senator decided to lampoon Governor Joho over alleged improprieties and then inexplicably, using a Jubilee line of attack, took a swipe at Raila Odinga. The Senator’s poor packaging of political salvos could not be salvaged by his vaunted “love” for the ENIGMA.
His audience loved the rhetoric and cheered him along but the larger Mombasa audience, a decisive RAO stronghold, was clearly peeved by the cheap shot. The good Senator won the room but lost Mombasa.
Expect the Heir-apparent to capitalize on the Senator’s gaffe and use it as cudgel to knock him out of contention or render his candidacy a joke. How can one campaign against a coalition partner by deploying Jubilee tactics? A leader of his calibre ought to have known better than to invoke Jubilee’s unfortunate rhetoric in CORD politics. Big mistake.
