Former Mombasa senator Hassan Omar has abandoned his bid to vie for the Senate Speaker position to support former Kilifi governor Amason Kingi who has been fronted by the Kenya Kwanza coalition.

Omar, who unsuccessfully contested for the Mombasa governor seat on United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket in the August 29 election, announced that he had stepped down from the Senate Speaker race after consultation with President-elect William Ruto.

“Following lengthy deliberations with H.E William Samoei Ruto and other Kenya Kwanza leaders yesterday, we agreed that H.E Amason Kingi be fronted as the Coalition’s candidate for Senate Speaker in keeping with the spirit of Coalition partnership,” Omar wrote in part on Facebook.

Omar said he had no objection to abandoning his bid to vie for the Senate Speaker in favour of Kingi since the position was reserved for the Coast region.

“I have no objection to this considering that this position was reserved for the Coast and hereby withdraw my candidature for Senate Speaker. I trust that all Senators will rally their support for my brother Kingi as the sole Kenya Kwanza candidate as so agreed upon by all of us,” he added.

Battle for Senate Speaker position

While on a tour of Bungoma county during the weekend, Ruto indicated that Kenya Kwanza would reserve the Senate Speaker seat for a candidate from the Coast to foster regional balance.

Kenya Kwanza alliance’s candidate Amason Kingi will face off with Kenneth Marende who has been picked by the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya alliance to vie for the Senate Speaker position.

The National Assembly and the Senate will on Thursday, September 8, 2022, become theatres of political contests when the Kenya Kwanza alliance will face off with Azimio-One Kenya coalition in the battle to elect Speakers for both Houses.

The elections — the second order of business once the Houses open for the 13th session — are likely to trigger acrimonious exchanges on the floors of the respective Houses given the razor-thin differences in the numbers of the two coalitions.