A meeting convened by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho on Wednesday did not allow journalists to cover the conclave.
The county chief who was speaking during the official opening of the conference convened to discuss the political future of the Coast region ordered members of the press to leave so as to give leaders in attendance time to deliberate on the agenda of the day.
"There are our brothers here from the media and they are many. I want to say that we wanted you to cover this opening and after this you will allow us we deliberate on our internal affairs then we will call you back and give you a comprehensive statement," Joho said as the scribes left.
"Give them tea to drink," he added.
The meeting was convened days after Kilifi County Governor Amason Kingi met 21 MPs from Coast who are in support of Deputy President William Ruto's 2022 presidential bid.
Kingi is among leaders who have endorsed Ruto's bid to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta when his term officially ends in 2022.
Opposition chief Raila Odinga on Friday last week met Joho and Kingi at a hotel in Lavington, Nairobi where he told the two to stop wrangling as that would divide the ODM party in Coast region.