Shahbal dismisses poll rating Joho as most popular in Mombasa

The Jubilee Party aspirant for the Mombasa County governorship, Suleiman Shahbal, has dismissed a poll released on Tuesday morning showing that he is less popular than Governor Hassan Joho, saying it is a fraud.

In a statement to newsrooms, Mr Shahbal who lost out to Mr Joho in the 2013 elections, questioned the integrity of pollster Tifa (Trends and Insights For Africa) which showed his rival has a 68 per cent popularity rating.

“From the onset the poll looks suspect, and therefore bogus whose results cannot be relied upon to inform the mood on the ground in Mombasa.

“The pollsters, whether they went to the ground to seek opinions or not seem to be more focused on gauging, or informing the public, what Mombasa people felt about the Mtongwe ferry debacle,” he argued.

SHAHBAL TRAILS JOHO

Though the pollster said one in ten people in Mombasa were still undecided, it showed Mr Shahbal trailing Mr Joho at 15 per cent of the 550 people polled between March 16 and 18.

But Mr Shahbal argued the pollster, who did not name the entity that commissioned the polls, had asked leading questions meant to sway public opinion, rather than inquire from the public the current county government’s performance.

“Our internal polls indicate a very tight race at the moment, and our opponents are privy to this, and we can therefore not be swayed by such misguiding purported research.

"In a nutshell, we dismiss this poll as bogus, cooked and with an ulterior motive to shape Mombasa people’s perceptions but (we) reiterate that the voters will not be deceived this time with such opinion polls.”