Governors Hassan Joho (Mombasa), Salim Mvurya (Kwale) and Amason Kingi (Kilifi) appear to be closing ranks in the run up to the 2022 general elections.
The three county bosses are all serving their second and final term in office and are united in ‘seeking political relevance ahead of the next general polls’.
On Tuesday Governors Joho and Kingi paid a courtesy call on Mvurya in his office in which members of the media were barred and none of them revealed the meeting’s agenda.
Last week President Uhuru Kenyatta first hosted Mvurya and his Deputy Fatuma Achani before later meeting Joho and Kingi in a move that has left tongues wagging.
Since their separate session with the president which was touted as neutralizing Ruto’s influence at the coast the scramble for coastal region supremacy has intensified.
The three leaders have since 2017 been drifting away from each other and the recent meetings appear to show that they are ready to work together.
Joho is the ODM party deputy leader and has declared an interest in the presidency on the party’s ticket while Kingi favours the formation of a coast based regional political party.
Mvurya and Kingi have also made it clear that they will run a national seat after completing their second and last gubernatorial terms.
Mvurya, a soft spoken governor, has been a strong supporter of Deputy President William Ruto before the surprise meeting with the Head of State.
Mvurya and Joho have not been together since the former defected from ODM and joined the Jubilee party ahead of the 2017 general elections where he successfully defended his seat on the party’s ticket despite an ODM onslaught to dislodge him.
During the Msambweni constituency by-election in December 2020, Joho was supporting ODM candidate Omar Boga who went on to lose the seat left vacant by the death of area MP Suleiman Dori to independent candidate Feisal Bader who enjoyed the support of Mvurya and the DP.
The by-election contest brought to the fore a silent battle for coast regional kingpin between Joho and Mvurya ahead of the 2022 general election. But the recent meetings are seen as indication of a thawing in relations between former political opponents.
By Hussein Abdullahi
