Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi at a past event. [Photo/standardmedia.co.ke]
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi are undoubtedly the biggest political names in the Coast region.
However, their graduation to national politics has come with its share of challenges and constant altercations with the Jubilee government.
With both declaring their intention to run for President in 2022, they will have to remain politically relevant for the next five years if they are to overcome the political hurdle.
During Joho's swearing in ceremony, the ODM deputy leader hinted that he will hold a retreat with Kingi to hold a discussion on their presidential ambitions.
However, it remains unclear whether the retreat was held and if yes, the deliberation made.
With the attention now shifting to 2022, the duo will have to remain politically relevant to springboard their political ambitions and the recent Coast region secession talk could be one of the strategies.
The controversial secession debate has elicited mixed reactions especially from Jubilee politicians from the region who have dismissed the duo's move.
The next five years will be a defining moment in the political careers of the two firebrand politicians especially with the secession debate being the main campaign tool that will ensure the duo remains active in the national political scene.
With the Central government and the Coast region Jubilee leadership already opposing to the move, should Joho and Kingi outsmart their local rivals and take the secession debate national, the issue may be used as the main tool in the 2022 political negotiation table.