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Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate in Mombasa governor race Abdulswamad Nassir has expressed confidence that William Ruto’s win in the August 9 presidential election will not affect the governor election to be held in the county.

Nassir, who is among the candidates seeking to succeed Governor Hassan Joho, expressed optimism that Mombasa electorate will not be swayed by the August 8 outcome where Ruto was declared the president-elect.

Speaking at a press conference in Mombasa on Wednesday evening, Nassir noted that Mombasa is still under the control of ODM party, buoyed by the outcome of the just concluded elections where the party took dominance in all elective seats.

“The constitution of this country is clear. There are 47 distinct county governments and that means Mombasa will not be in the opposition because it’s a distinct government of its own,” Nassir said.

ODM party clinched five of the six Member of Parliament seats, and majority of county assembly members, and Nassir believes numbers speak louder than words.

“We have an overwhelming majority of MPs, MCAs, we have the Senator, Woman Rep and therefore we cannot lose the important seat, which is the governor. We are confident we will win,” he said.

Nassir says he has Raila’s support

Nassir, who described ODM leader Raila Odinga as his political father figure, said he has his (Raila’s) blessings even after what transpired in the August 8 elections where Odinga came second in the tightly contested presidential race..

New elected MPs in Mombasa include Mohamed Machele (Mvita), Rashid Bedzimba (Kisauni), Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe), Mishi Mboko (Likoni) and Bady Twalib (Jomvu).

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) only clinched the Nyali MP seat that was won by Mohamed Ali.

The election in the county was set to be held on August 23 after being postponed due to ballot papers mix-up during the general election on August 9.