Elected leaders from Kilifi County have resolved to put aside their political differences and work in unity for the betterment of their electorates

The first unity meeting was convened on Sunday at the official Governor’ residence in Kilifi town between the County leadership led by Governor Gideon Mung’aro, his deputy Florah Chibule and Kilifi County Assembly Speaker Teddy Mwambire and national level leaders led by Senator Stewards Madzayo and MPs from the seven constituencies in the area.

Kilifi Women Representative Getrude Mbeyu who has been at loggerheads with Mr Mung’aro did not turn up for the meeting but she sent apologies.

Members of national assembly present included Kilifi North’s Owen Baya, Kilifi South’s Ken Chonga, Kaloleni MP Paul Katana, Magarini MP Harrison Kombe, his Ganze counterpart Kenneth Kazungu, Malindi MP Amina Mnyazi and Rabai’s Kenga Mupe.

Governor Mung’aro, an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) elected governor said that the meeting was a follow up of a near similar one held in Nairobi for all coastal leaders that was chaired by Senate Speaker Amason Kingi and former Mombasa Governor Hassan Ali Joho that deliberated on various development issues especially matters to do with the ports of Mombasa, Lamu and Shimoni that are allegedly on the verge of privatization by President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.

He added that the leaders want to consolidate and map out development projects that they want to be carried out within the county so that they can present them during the next Coastal leaders meeting scheduled for next month in Lamu county.

“We want to have constant consultation so that we do away with duplication of roles for prudent resource utilization. An example is the bursaries where we have an issue of double allocation in a way that a single student gets bursaries from all leadership roles hence disadvantage others,” he said.

Mr Mung’aro said the various counties in the coastal region had their own diverse issues and there was need for each county to have a plan when they meet at the coastal level before forging forward to the national level.

“Yes, we met as leaders from the Coast region drawn from all political parties recently but in the next meeting we want to go there as a Kilifi team with our own unique issues, we might be from the coast region but each county has its own issues,” he added.

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya lauded that governor for convening the meeting saying that it was long overdue and that such meetings should be held frequently to sore unity.

“We thank the governor for calling us without looking at our political affiliation and we have discussed matters of Kilifi. The meeting was successful and if we unite then we shall prosper. So watch this space Kilifi will be better than before under the leadership of Governor Gideon Mung’aro,” said Mr Baya who is also the deputy majority leader in the National Assembly.

Of the seven constituencies in the County, only three MPs were elected on a Kenya Kwanza allied parties and they include Mr Baya who was elected on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party while Ganze MP Kenneth Kazungu and his Rabai Counterpart were elected on a Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) party ticket.

Governor Mung’aro, Senator Madzayo, Mrs Mnyazi, Mrs Mbeyu, Mr Katana, Mr Chonga and Mr Kombe were all elected on an ODM ticket together with a majority of MCAs.