Kingi, Awiti and Munga cleared for Mombasa governor race

After being taken back and forth by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for two days, three Mombasa gubernatorial aspirants were finally cleared.

The trio; Mombasa Deputy Governor Dr William Kingi (Pamoja African Alliance), former Nyali MP Hezron Awiti (Vibrant Democratic Party) and Daniel Munga (Independent), had been turned away for failing to meet the IEBC requirements.

Munga was the first to be turned away on Saturday on technicalities, whereas Kingi was turned away after his running mate failed to bring original certified copies of the academic documents.

Awiti was turned away as his degree had not been certified by his university.

The three candidates were however cleared on Monday evening after rectifying the issues.

Awiti has picked a 28-year-old lady Bethlin Kadzo Jembe to be his running mate and Munga has picked former Kenya Ports Managing Director Abdhalla Mwaruwa. 

Kingi picked Air transport expert Amin Roble as his running mate.

Speaking shortly after being cleared, Awiti said, though the process was cumbersome, he was happy with how everything went on.

"I am satisfied with the help I received from the IEBC. I almost thought that there was something fishy going on,” he said.

On Monday evening, the VDP party leader was almost sent back again after signatories in his party nomination certificate differed from the one reflected on the data from the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.

"We had effected the changes and communicated to the office in Nairobi, but it seems because of workload the changes had not yet been updated in the system. However I’m glad the matter was sorted and I got my clearance," said Awiti.

Kingi also expressed his satisfaction with the IEBC clearance process which he termed as vigorous.

"We are glad we have managed to get cleared after the back and forth process. The journey to deliver Mombasa now begins," said Kingi.

He said that his candidature together with his running mate represents hope for the people of Mombasa.

"We are confident that Mombasa people are going to elect us," he said.

Munga who was the first to appear before the commission on Saturday also finally got cleared.

He is taking a second shot at the seat after failing to clinch it in 2017, vying on a Shirikisho Party ticket.

"We are going to bring back Mombasa's lost glory," he said.

Munga’s running mate, Mwaruwa, said he will bring his management experience into the running of the county day to day operations.

"I am also going to be a mentor to him (Munga) besides being his deputy," he said.