All governors from the Coast apart from Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya are today meeting at the Vipingo ridge to strategize how they will sell and push Building Bridges Initiative and other coastal based development initiatives.
Speaking at the Vipingo Ridge, Mombasa county secretary Francis Thoya said the governors will be planning on the coastal political chapter.
CS Thoya said the Coast region has been left in dilemma over the political decisions and has been used as a milestone and political backup for other regions.
Some of the items that will be discussed include;
- Building Bridges Initiative
- Coast region security
- Economy
- Political stability
The indoor meeting will be chaired by the Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho.
The political stability at the coast and the outgoing governors has been a thorny issue. Kilifi governor Amason Kingi and Mombasa governor Ali Joho are proposing for the BBI because of the three-tier government.
The two governors have been allegedly planning to go for the regional government seats in the coming 2022 elections.
Presidential ambitions for the Mombasa governor is almost dead after the provisions of the regional governments in the BBI.
Coast Region economy has been undermined by the introduction of Naivasha inland port, Embakasi inland port, and Standard Gauge Railway(SGR) cargo deals.
The blue economy is not doing well as it was on the blueprint. Dongo Kundu’s business park is still on the drawing board.
It’s still unclear if the political stability at the coast will be brought by the external parties as they lack bargaining power.
It’s just a year after the Kilifi governor Amason Kingi talked about having a coastal based party(TUFE) which since then hasn’t been actualized.