Mungatana, Nasir join hands to unseat Governor Dado

Tana River County Governor Hussein Dado is set to encounter a tough run to defend his seat in the August 8 polls after two aspirants in the race – former Garsen MP Danson Mungatana and Dr Nuh Nasir, joined hands in their bid for the seat.

Mungatana and Nasir appeared in public for the first time at Basargiesa to check on the area residents who are embroiled in a bitter border dispute with their counterparts from Mwingi in Kitui County, a conflict that has claimed more than 40 lives in the past two years.

The two said that they have formed ‘a winning team’, and pledged to work together to oust Governor Hussein Dado.

Mungatana, a veteran politician in the region, has already been endorsed by his Pokomo community to vie for the seat and so was Dr Nasir – a speaker in the Tana River County Assembly and former Bura MP, by his Wardhei community.

The duo accused the incumbent governor – Dado – of plundering county resources at the expense of suffering residents.

Dr Nasir said that Tana River residents deserve better services from their leaders whom they elected.

Their coming together to form a coalition ends months of speculation regarding the ethnic-political alignment amongst key political players in the county ahead of the General Election.

Traditionally, Tana River county people vote along ethnic affiliation, which usually favors two out of the three major ethnic groups.

The county is inhabited by the Pokomos, Ormas, Wardhei and several other tribes.

Governor Dado was elected in 2013 General Election with his running mate Jire Siyat, from Wardhei Community, who has since departed from his boss’s camp to support Dr Nuh Nasir.

Edited by Moses Ngugi