ODM party leader Raila Odinga has blamed the national government for the high levels of poverty in Coast region.
Raila said the national government's poor policies towards the fight against poverty is why the region has remained impoverished.
"The reason the Coast region has remained behind is because the National Government in Nairobi’s priorities are not necessarily your priorities," he said during the official opening of the Kilifi County International Investment Conference on Thursday.
"How Kilifi remained behind despite massive resources is clearly spelt out in the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation report. The poverty here is a direct product of government policies pursued by all the three regimes since independence. Unfortunately, those policies persist to date."
Raila officiated at the opening of the conference as chief guest.
The event has attracted both local and international investors interested in starting businesses at the Coastal county.
"TJRC found that during the mandate period (1963-2008) the state 'adopted economic and other policies that resulted in the economic marginalisation of five key regions in the country, North Eastern and Upper Eastern, Coast, Nyanza, Western and North Rift.'" he added.
Kilifi is traditionall an opposition zone going by the voting 2013 voting patterns.
Governor Amaso Kingi called on Kenyans to take advantage of the diverse investment opportunities in the county to open up businesses.