Orange Democratic Movement Party’s Abdulswamad Nassir is the new Mombasa governor-elect, after garnering 119,083 votes against his closest rival UDA’s Hassan Omar who got 98,108 votes.
Nassir was elected alongside his running mate, Francis Thoya, and will succeed outgoing boss Hassan Ali Joho who served for two terms since 2013.
Swalah Yusuf, the Mombasa County Returning Officer for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), presented the candidate with his certificate at the county tallying center.
The Mombasa gubernatorial race attracted five other candidates. They are Hezron Awiti Bollo of Vibrant Democratic Party (VDP), William Kingi of Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) Party, Said Omar of Usawa Kwa Wote Party, Daniel Kitsao (Independent) and Shafi Makazi (Independent).
The election was marred by accusations and counter-accusations of voter manipulation by the Azimio and Kenya Kwanza brigades.
According to official figures from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the election had a low voter turnout in a county with 641,913 registered voters.
Initially, the polls were to be held on August 9, 2022, during the general election, but a mix-up of candidates’ images on the ballot papers occasioned the postponement, IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati said.
