MOMBASA, Kenya- Mombasa Governor and ODM Deputy Party Leader Abdulswamad Nassir has said the Orange party will demand the Deputy President’s position in future negotiations with the United Democratic Alliance, proposing Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho for the role.
Nassir said ODM would not approach the talks as a junior political partner, arguing that the party’s national reach and political history entitled it to a leading place in any 2027 arrangement.
“Mark my words, as ODM Deputy Party Leader, we shall negotiate with UDA. We are not a lesser party,” Nassir said.
“ODM deserves to be in the top seat. And ODM shall demand the Deputy President position of this country.”
Joho for Deputy President
The Mombasa Governor singled out Joho, the former Mombasa Governor and former Kisauni MP, as ODM’s preferred candidate for the deputy presidency.
“Hassan Joho deserves to be the next Deputy President of Kenya,” Nassir said, citing the Mining CS’s record in elective politics and government.
“Hassan Joho has served as an MP, Governor and Cabinet Secretary. Next is the Deputy President.”
Nassir said the push for Joho was not restricted to Mombasa or the Coast region, arguing that it reflected a wider national political constituency.
“This is not the voice of Mombasa and the Coast alone. It is the voice of the masses across Kenya,” he said.
The remarks strengthen a position that ODM leaders have increasingly advanced as they seek to define the party’s place in a possible pre-election agreement with President William Ruto’s UDA.
ODM’s bargaining position
ODM has publicly stated that it is prepared to support President Ruto’s re-election bid in 2027, but party leaders have maintained that the decision does not mean the party will surrender its claim to other senior positions.
Nassir has previously said formal negotiations on a pre-election coalition have not begun and that ODM’s party leadership would appoint a team to table the party’s demands when talks commence.
The deputy presidency has emerged as ODM’s clearest demand, with party leaders arguing that the party should not be reduced to a supporting role in the broad-based political arrangement.
ODM National Chairperson Gladys Wanga has also said the party’s support for Ruto would be conditional on the implementation of agreements between the two parties.
Nassir’s fresh endorsement of Joho adds a name to the debate and places the Mining CS at the centre of the 2027 running-mate conversation.
UDA faces running-mate question
The proposal is likely to trigger further debate within UDA, where allies have maintained that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki remains President Ruto’s preferred running mate for 2027.
A final decision on any coalition arrangement, including the presidential ticket, will depend on formal negotiations between the parties and the political calculations that emerge ahead of the election.
For ODM, however, Nassir said the message is clear: the party expects to negotiate from a position of strength and wants the deputy presidency at the centre of its demands.
The Joho push also raises the political stakes at the Coast, where leaders are increasingly positioning themselves and their preferred candidates for greater influence in the next government.
