Ex-Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko is likely to win the Mombasa gubernatorial race despite the fact of the many cases facing him.
According to The Nation Media Group poll conducted by Infotrak, the flamboyant politician had greatly narrowed the gap on the ODM aspirant Abdulswamad Nassir who initially was the favorite.
The survey shows that Nassir remains the popular candidate with a 40 percent approval rating while Sonko has a 33 percent popularity rate even after joining the race late.
With 83 days to elections, Sonko can easily turn the table bearing in mind that the poll showed 16 percent of the voters are undecided.
Even though Sonko, is considered an intruder into the politics of Mombasa, his style of politics where he aligns himself with the less fortunate members of the society is great in his favor.
But Nassir remains confident that he will succeed Governor Hassan Joho despite the strong competition he is facing.
“We respect the Nation’s poll but believe strongly that we are higher and the election will eventually reveal that. A poll we commissioned with 2,500 respondents in the six counties and 30 wards places us at 50 plus percent,” Nassir said concerning the opinion polls.
Even though Sonko is doing well in his quest to clinch the Mombasa gubernatorial seat, he is likely to be arrested and charged with the offense of escaping from lawful. custody.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has said that they have enough evidence to have Sonko re-arrested and arraigned in a court of law offense of escaping from lawful custody at the Shimo La Tewa GK prison while serving his sentence at the facility.
“There is someone who is vying for a governor position. He is known to have run from prison, and prison records indicate so. We will look for him and have him re-arrested. The law has to be respected and we can’t be a government that wants to make everyone happy,” the commission’s CEO Twalib Mbarak said recently.
At the same time, Sonko is still battling a court case where a vote is seeking his disqualification from the gubernatorial contest because he was impeached during his time as the governor of Nairobi.
