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Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has asked President William Ruto not to listen to leaders pushing him to upgrade the Bungoma airstrip into an international airport.

Khalwale, however, wants Ruto to focus on upgrading the airstrip in Kakamega town instead. The former Member of Parliament argued that Kakamega is viewed as the headquarters of the western region and thus deserves an international airport and not its rival town, Bungoma.

“Kakamega is the commercial and political capital of the 10 million-strong Baluhyia Nation. For the past two years, we’ve been fighting for the Kakamega International Airport. All along, Weta (Moses Wetangula) and MADVD (Musalia Mudavadi) have remained mute.

“Today, Bungoma leaders have asked the president to build the facility in Bungoma instead! Wetangula should be inspired by Masinde Muliro, who agreed with the colonists to establish Kakamega as our capital and learn from Kijana Wamalwa, who never attempted to reverse this vision. President Ruto, don’t accept to underwrite this,” Khalwale said in a statement on X.

Lusaka’s plea

The calls to have an international airport in Bungoma were led by the county’s boss, Ken Lusaka. During his Madaraka Day speech, Lusaka proposed that the airstrip in Matulo be upgraded and named after the current president.

“It is our wish that in the future, our airstrip at Matulo will be upgraded to an international airport. When it reaches that level, we want to propose, on behalf of the people of Bungoma, that it be named after you (William Ruto),” the former Speaker of the Senate said.

Kakamega is surrounded by Eldoret and Kisumu cities, towns whose airports can accommodate bigger aircraft. Leaders from Kakamega have been calling on the national government to help upgrade their airstrip since they believe it can help boost tourism, among other benefits.

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