Kenya Insights

Tag: Suleiman Shahbal

  • Abide By My Conditions Or I Bolt Out, Shahbal Gives ODM Notice

    Abide By My Conditions Or I Bolt Out, Shahbal Gives ODM Notice

    Being an ODM’s stronghold, the region’s political bigwigs are engaged in high voltage fights that according to analysts, threatens to break the strings holding the Raila Odinga’s led party.

    Mombasa governor ticket has come into focus more so much than any other. Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir who’s been leading in recent opinion polls is not having his smooth way as his arch rival and businessman Suleiman Shahbal  engages his arsenal in ensuring the legislator doesn’t overrun him.

    Shabhal is trying to make a third stab on the county’s top seat. Branded by critics as a party hopper, Shahbal made his first attempt and was defeated in 2013 by the incumbent Governor Hassan Joho when he contested through Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Party.

    In 2017, Shahbal ran on a Jubilee Party ticket, but still lost to Joho for a second time. At the time, Joho resoundingly thrashed Shahbal with 221,363 votes against his 69,429.

    Last year, Shahbal returned to ODM from Jubilee and is now battling with Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir for the ODM ticket in the governor’s race.

    On Thursday, the ODM National Elections Board brought together the contestants from Mombasa to a meeting held at Emory Hotel in a bid to arrive  at a consensus on the best candidate to front for the party but all didn’t end well.

    During the meeting, other contestants didn’t agree with opinion polls results that the party was relying on for the best bet with the disgruntled revolting that they don’t trust the process. According to documents availed to our desk, Abdulswamad was favored in all polls as the leading candidate while his opponents who were trailing at a distant, thrashed the results as being fake and untrustworthy.

    The Orange party’s National Executive Council in February endorsed four ways of picking aspirants, which also received the backing of the National Delegates Congress.

    The NDC approved the use of consensus, direct nomination, identification of candidates through voting by delegates and universal suffrage, through which ODM members would vote for their preferred candidate.

    However, the NEC noted they favour consensus while direct nomination would be the last resort.

    Raila is on record stating that parties affiliated with the Azimio la Umoja Movement will have to sacrifice their ambitions for the good of the budding coalition.

    ODM Chairman, John Mbadi recently shelved his Homa Bay’s gubernatorial ambitions for Gladys Wanga citing calls by his party leader Raila Odinga to help in his national agenda mission.

    ”I discussed with my party leader and it became apparent that if the national chairman can sacrifice his ambition because of leadership of women, then so be it. I had a huge following in the county. If you look at the anger on the ground, you can clearly see I had captured the imagination of the people.” Mbadi is quoted in a media publication.

    “I have supported my party leader since1992 and he told me that he wants to work with me at the national level. I’m happy that I took the risk for the sake of Raila. This will be the first time since 2007 that I will not seek an elective seat.”

    The Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate said coalition partners would try to strike a balance in picking candidates for various seats in certain regions.

    According to intelligence briefs in the holds of Kenya Insights, ODM had to postpone the party primaries for Mombasa and Kilifi counties.

    The party in a statement on Saturday said the move is meant to enable the conclusion of ongoing consultations and consensus-building.

    The party primaries for Kilifi and Mombasa were scheduled to take place next week on April 5 and April 6 respectively.

    In Kilifi County, Devolution Chief Administrative Secretary Gideon Mung’aro and Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi are also battling for the ODM ticket.

    Reports also indicate that Kenya’s High Commissioner to Tanzania Dan Kazungu who is also the former Malindi MP is also eyeing the Kilifi Governor seat through the ODM party.

    In Mombasa, the fierce battle between the front contenders has threatened to split the party. While the party insists the choice of candidate should be informed by internal opinion polls amongst other internally laid structures, Shahbal who’s coming second after Nassir in both polls, has rejected the results terming them untrustworthy. In remedy, the party’s top organs have recommended a third, last and determinant poll to square out the stalemate but insiders tell our writer that the businessman is not going to hear none of it. “He’s made it clear that he’s either his way or no way,” a source close to the negotiations says.

    ”How can a national party be held hostage by interests of an individual? The party has structures and policies laid out that are not only binding to Mombasa but all the counties, why would the part bend its tail for one person? As Saitoti once said, there comes a time when the interests of a nation  supersedes that of an individual.” A top ranking party official told this publication.

    ”We’re determined to arrive at an equal footing with both parties, we’re one family, squabbles are bound to happen. We’re still considering all options on the table and we’ve not exhausted anything. Nobody should feel unwanted, no one should feel too big or too small. We will square this out.” A senior source told Kenya Insights.

    ”We’re demanding nothing other than a direct ticket,” a close source cites Shahbal.

    By the time of going on air, Abdulswamad’s team said they’re open for talks, Shahbal’s said they’re not taking anything other than universal suffrage and if not, they’ll bolt out, “we don’t trust ODM at this point and we have plenty of options” a Shahbal’s senior official told us.

  • Abdulswamad Set To Bag Mombasa ODM Ticket For Governor

    Abdulswamad Set To Bag Mombasa ODM Ticket For Governor

    As political temperatures continue to heat up in the country ahead of national primaries, numbers continue to separate the bulls. Mombasa, one of the hottest grounds for ODM being a stronghold, has attracted a lot of attention and tension equally.

    ODM advisory board had said in earlier communications advised that they’d avoid m nominations in areas perceived to be volatile as a way of subverting violence. The party through it’s National Elections Board commissioned several opinion polls that were conducted between different months to help in arriving at the most suitable and popular candidate in hot areas and then bring together contestants to break a deal within themselves.

    It’s this poll that recently brokered the deal between Homa Bay contestants who unanimously endorsed Hon Wanga handing her a direct ticket.

    A similar case was seen in UDA when Malala and Khalwale came to common deal after talks for the Kakamega seats as it became clear through polls that Malala was ranking ahead of Khalwale for the gubernatorial seat.

    At a meeting with ODM party’s top brass  amongst them John Mbadi, Junet Mohammed, Catherine Muma, Mombasa gubernatorial candidates including Abdulswamad Nasir, Suleiman Shabal and other contestants, were holed up at Emory Hotel on Thursday in a bid to broker a deal looking at all the factors to choose on the most suitable candidate. This was the party’s idea to avoid imminent violence in the nominations.

    Sources present in the meeting confided to our writer that the choice of suitable candidate for the ticket was to be informed by opinion polls which were conducted by the national elections board at different times in the country.

    In all the polls presented by the board to the aspirants, Abdulswamad was ahead of his main rival Shahbal. Together with other dissatisfied candidates present in the meeting, Shahbal  protested saying they couldn’t trust the polls.

    Shahbal in protest said the race was too close to call. However, the margin of the polls seen by Kenya Insights shows otherwise as the Mvita MP commands a wider lead in all the polls as Shahbal comes second. The other option on the table that Shahbal refused to give a chance to is consensus amongst the contestants. He’s insisting on universal suffrage which the party understands its dangers and trying to talk all contestants in flagged areas out of.

    There have been two ugly incidences of violence have played out in the recent past, one before Raila during an Azimio rally and another at Tononoka grounds during International Women’s Day, supporters of Shahbal and Nasir’s clashed giving a clear indication of what would become.

    The party offered to conduct another poll for final clarity and for satisfaction of other dissatisfied aspirants. This was also opposed by some.

    Another person present in the meeting tell this writer that Shahbal in protest said “I don’t trust ODM” a statement that left party officials agitated.

    In the latest update, ODM’s Elections Board had to postpone party primaries in Nakuru County amid violence fears.

    The consensus stalemate is not only a headache for the party in Mombasa, in Kisumu, former East African Community chief administrative secretary Ken Obura is playing the hardball on consensus with the incumbent Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o for the county’s top seat.

    Kisumu Deputy Governor Mathews Owili called on the ODM National Elections Board to consider issuing Prof Nyong’o a direct ticket to save resources for Mr Odinga’s presidential campaigns.

    “We should not conduct party primaries to please an individual at the expense of the bigger goal of ensuring Mr Odinga’s victory,” he said on Wednesday.

    Opinion poll

    Citing an opinion poll result, Dr Owili argued that there is every indication that Governor Nyong’o will triumph over his sole competitor.

    “The latest poll indicates that Governor Nyong’o garnered 90 per cent against 5 per cent (for) his sole challenger,” he said.

    He called on Mr Odinga’s supporters to rally behind his fifth presidential bid.

  • Senate Now Stops Sh6bn Buxton Point Estate Project

    Senate Now Stops Sh6bn Buxton Point Estate Project

    The Senate Transport and Infrastructure Committee has suspended the ongoing construction of Sh6 billion Buxton Point Estate in Mombasa over compensation and resettlement issues.

    The committee, which is chaired by Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi, made the orders following petitions from a section of Mombasa residents who claim the project is shrouded with secrecy while being implemented on public land.

    “There are a lot of issues on compensation, issues of resettlement. We also want the documentation of whole contract agreements because this is a public property and it remains as such,” Senator Wamatangi said.

    The proprietors of Buxton Point Company Limited – the firm behind the project – have been summoned to appear before the Senate Committee in 14 days.

    Detailed documentation

    The committee also summoned Governor Hassan Joho and Buxton Point CEO Ahmed Badawy to present detailed documentation about the project’s joint venture agreement.

    Buxton Point Company is associated with Mombasa tycoon Suleiman Shahbal.

    The project, which has been in the works since 2016, received a legal green light in March 2021 after the High Court dismissed a case seeking to stop the venture.

    A section of Buxton residents wanted Mr Shahbal stopped from moving into the site, saying he did not have the capacity to tamper with any portion of the land where the estate stands.

    Enough time

    Justice Sila Munyao dismissed the petition saying the county had given the applicants enough time to vacate and even volunteered to compensate them.

    Mombasa County on March 19 began issuing a relocation allowance of Sh240,000 to the affected tenants. In addition, the developer paid a Sh60,000 deposit for each family as commitment for buying the units.

    Under the scheme, a one-bedroom house will be sold for Sh1.8 million, while a two-bedroom unit will go for Sh3 million. A four-bedroom unit will be sold for Sh4.2 million.

    There will also be bedsitters going for about a million shillings.

    Phase one of the two-phase project will be completed early next year.

  • Mijikenda Factor In Joho Succession Race

    Mijikenda Factor In Joho Succession Race

    Mombasa deputy governor Dr. William Kingi is enjoying a growing popularity as the race to succeed governor Hassan Joho intensifies, exactly one year to the next year’s general election. DG Kingi had been trashed as an underdog in the race but the backing from his Mijikenda community has boosted his candidature.

    The Mijikenda community is simply putting it that it is now their turn to occupy the lucrative seat which has been held by Joho who comes from a minority Arab extract for the past nine years.

    Joho was first deputized by Hazel Katana in his first term but he later picked Kingi in 2017, both are from the Mijikenda community who are the majority voters at the coast.

    Mombasa DG William Kingi and Governor Hassan Joho [p/courtesy]
    But smaller tribes have taken advantage of disunity and poverty among the Mijikenda to chest thump for plum positions. What still remains clear is that ODM party still stands a chance of producing the next governor of Mombasa county but the candidate may be different from the usual faces like Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir or businessman Suleiman Shahbal who are eyeing the ODM ticket.

    Even the ODM party leader Raila Odinga who has been secretly pushing for the moneyed Shahbal has read the mood on the ground and assured Kingi of free and fair party nominations.

    This comes after goons funded by Shahbal booed the Mombasa DG in attempts to prevent him from delivering his speech during a function hosted by Joho and graced by ODM leader at Coast General & Referral hospital.

    Flip flopping Shahbal had initially dismissed Kingi as a weak candidate but with a strong Mijikenda candidate emerging,  even picking a DG from the community will not do much to sway voters to his side. And with Joho backing Nassir as his preferred successor, Shahbal is also secretly engaging Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka as another alternative if things fail to work in ODM where he is seen as a stranger.

     

     

     

     

     

  • How long will flip-flopping Shahbal stay in ODM?

    How long will flip-flopping Shahbal stay in ODM?

    The entry of businessman Suleiman Shahbal in ODM party has angered politicians lining up to succeed the outgoing governor Hassan Joho. Shahbal who ran on a Jubilee party in 2017 and lost to Joho has ‘bought off’ the ODM party leader Raila Odinga who is behind his strange entry into the orange party.

    His recent defection from Jubilee to ODM has now triggered a heated fight for the party’s ticket for Mombasa gubernatorial contest as supporters of Deputy Governor William Kingi and Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir express their dissatisfaction.

    Both Kingi and Nassir are interested in succeeding Joho in 2022 with Nassir challenging Shahbal to publicly apologize to ODM, its leadership and supporters for the past insults.

    “I challenge Shahbal to first apologise to Raila and Joho for his past utterances because he is known for flip-flopping parties” Nassir told the media.

    But defection has been the norm for Mr Shahbal since the beginning of his politics. Just before the 2013 general elections, the businessman defected from ODM to UDF and then to Wiper party all in less than a month.

    He had also expressed his confusion in 2020 when he attended a Wiper party office opening function where Kalonzo Musyoka introduced him as the sole party candidate for the Mombasa gubernatorial in next year’s polls but a week later, the flip-flopping politician was seen drumming up support for the ODM candidate in Msambweni parliamentary by-election.

    Mvita MP Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir. He wants to be the next governor of Mombasa County [p/county]
    But going with the ODM tradition and its messy nominations Shahbal will be dealt a big political blow when the battle for ODM ticket gets to the nominations stage.  Deep rooted insiders like Nassir will ensure he is beaten.

    Nassir is a longtime loyalist and preferred choice of the outgoing Joho who doubles up as ODM party’s deputy leader with reliable influence connection with financiers.

    Until his defection, Shahbal was Jubilee Party’s key point-man in Mombasa but has been joining Odinga’s entourage at the coast before he announcing his dream to vie for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket.