President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election is facing an unprecedented challenge after supremacy battles began rocking the team heading his campaigns in the Coast region.
A competition over who should lead the President's campaign has reportedly engulfed the Jubilee Party in the Coast region with supporters of Mombasa politician Suleiman Shahbal and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala clashing over who should head the party's campaigns in the region.
The Standard reports that Shahbal's team told off CS Balala noting that he should respect their leader (Shahbal) and always consult him concerning the campaigns.
Mombasa County Jubilee chairman Matano Chengo and secretary Ali Mwatsahu defended Shahbal stating that he (Shahbal) had worked hard for the 100,000 votes President Kenyatta won in the county.
“We condemn those who heckled Shahbal at the DP's meeting on Friday. We have since established that this had been planned in town two days earlier to undermine Mr Shahbal, who sacrificed time and resources to campaign for the party.
“The problem we have in this country is that some members have gone to the Nairobi party headquarters to stab Shahbal in the back. Those behind such an ill plan should stop,” Chengo stated.
The division among the leaders manifested itself on Friday when a section of the Jubilee Party members heckled Shahbal during Deputy President William Ruto's meeting where he named Balala to head the campaigns at the coast.
CS Balala and Shahbal have, however, dismissed the allegations of a feud among their supporters as mere propaganda adding that they are working together.
The Tourism Cabinet Secretary announced that he had held a meeting with the various Jubilee Leaders and they had resolved to work as a team.
"There will be no two teams in Mombasa there will be only one team that will go to the grassroots.
"If Uhuru is to win we must come together as one unit. We are going to work with more people, nobody is going to work in exclusion of others," he stated.
Infighting among Jubilee leaders especially in Opposition strongholds poses a strong threat to the President's re-election since he needs to dig into these areas to strengthen his chances of winning in the first round.
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