Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho on Sunday tore into Deputy President William Ruto telling him to respect opposition chief Raila Odinga.
Joho who spoke in Mtwapa in Kilifi County told Ruto that Raila does not match his political class and he should leave the former prime minister alone.
"I want to remind you Mr Ruto that respect other leaders," Joho said.
"I told you sometime back and I want to repeat it today, respect Raila Amollo Odinga. You do not match Raila in politics. If you want confrontation come to me."
He spoke in Mtwapa as DP Ruto addressed a rally in Tononoka grounds, Mombasa, where the DP criticised corruption in counties especially Kilifi where the taxpayer lost Sh51 million recently.
"Don't come to Kilifi and Mombasa thinking were are backward," Joho said.
"We are not people who are told to relax when deceived. We are not backward, we are different my friend. I want to tell Deputy President William Ruto to learn from Governor (Amason Kingi) 003. On Monday, call the media in your office in Karen and read names of all thieves and their companies."
Joho has for the last three years had a frosty relationship with the DP following Ruto's constant criticism of Mr Odinga who he strongly supports.
He recently hinted that he would travel to Eldoret to assess the level of development initiated by the DP to gauge his leadership qualities.
He also said he would mobilize opposition politicians to campaign for Mr Odinga ahead of the 2017 polls.
His brushing shoulders with the Jubilee administration began when President Uhuru Kenyatta refused to freely issue title deeds to squatters in Mombasa.