Joho names Kingi as running mate ahead of August polls

Mombasa Governor, Ali Hassan Joho, has unveiled 47-year-old Technical University of Mombasa lecturer, William Kazungu Kingi, as his running mate for the August 8 General Election.

The self proclaimed Sultan of Mombasa had to choose another running mate after Deputy Governor, Hazel Katana, quit the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to join the ruling Jubilee Party citing mistreatment from the her governor.

Born in May 1970, Kingi is a PhD holder in Human Resource from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). Until his appointment, he was the Founding Dean School of Business at the Technical University of Mombasa.

Being a political process, as the governor put it during his unveiling, Dr Kingi underwent a quick transformation from the lecture halls to a politician when he took a swipe at the Jubilee administration and its peculiar ways of solving the historical land injustices.

“I am very comfortable in a classroom, but this, deputy governor, is huge. I thank my brother and friend Joho for trusting me and I will not let him down because we have already won the elections,” said Dr. Kingi.

“Cosmetic solutions to land issues will not work at all. Dishing few land title deeds out will not solve, we must plan to issue everyone with title deeds for them to live decent lives.”

Mombasa County Secretary, Francis Thoya, had been seen as the front runner to replace Ms. Katana considering that he was and still is a Joho loyalist.

But on giving reasons to overlook Mr. Thoya, the flamboyant governor said that he picked Mr. Kingi because he wants to hand over responsibilities to professionals and well-proven managers to steer the port city to higher heights in terms of public service delivery and empowerment of people of Mombasa.

Dr. Kingi is expected to bring all the votes within the Coastal universities and colleges to Hassan Joho’s camp.

The fact that Dr. Kingi is a Christian, he also forms a formidable force that strikes the balance of a Muslim-Christian combination, the dominant religions in the county.

Governor Joho will face off with Wiper’s Senator, Hassan Omar, and Jubilee’s Suleiman Shahbal.

Only Senator Omar has opted for a female running mate, a hotelier, Linda Shuma, with businessman Shahbal opting for former Kisauni MP, Ananiah Mwamboza.