Coast has long been neglected by Central Govt partly because coast leaders were not development conscious just noise and petty politics (think kina Shariff Nassir, Mungatana etc).
High poverty levels, high illiteracy , poor infrastructure have been characteristic of the region but the Kibaki vision 2030 changed things - improved road network, port modernisation, new terminals at the airport, economic zones, tax incentives to developers of hotels, planned developments & manufacturers, free primary education, SGR, rehabilitation of drug users have had an impact at the Coast.
During the years of Central Government neglect, the region fell into the hands of the Indian/Arab cartels at Mombasa and the Italian cartels of Malindi/Watamu.
The Indian/Arab cartels economic power is derived from port operations & associated logistics business, real estate plays, narcos... These guys literary own Mombasa, have a stronghold on the County Government. Remember these are the guys who kicked Balala out of the mayor office. Their tentacles extend to police, intelligence, KRA, anti narcotics, Judiciary, the mosques etc. Commissioner Marwa is their number 1 enemy.
The central government has had a long struggle to wrestle back the coast from cartels - quelling riots, raiding mosques, raiding narcos, makueniing overlords...
It is no secret whom kafana 001 represents. What the kafana needs to do is show the people of county 001 what he has done for them apart from running a parallel extortion ring at the county govt offices.
Mombasa ina wenyewe. People of County 001 can relate to what I am saying.
On the other hand the Central Government needs to invest heavily at the coast region because Kenya needs a strong coast to grow. Coast is the gateway to the world not only for KE but also the hinterland plus the mining, tourism and fisheries sectors have a huge potential.
Life is short. Live passionately.