Ruto moves to secure votes in Western region

After a bitter fallout with Mt Kenya, a region that overwhelmingly voted for him, it is now evident that President William Ruto has shifted his political focus to the Western Kenyan counties.

The President yesterday kicked off a six-day development tour of the Western region where he drummed up support for their new political outfit. On Friday, Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC) merged.

During the tour, Ruto thanked key leaders from the area, including Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula for supporting him at a critical time.

“Mudavadi and Wetang’ula agreed to join me to create the government during a very difficult time. Many told them that they had missed the way because there is no way UDA was going to win the election,” the President said during an interdenominational prayer at Cheptais Boys High School in Mt Elgon constituency of Bungoma County.

The President explained that the merger should not be mistaken as a weapon under the broad-based arrangement against other Kenyans, regions or communities but as a uniting factor for the entire nation.

“Now we are determined to move forward as a united nation and that’s why I have put to an end tribal and divisive politics. We have merged the UDA and ANC parties because that is the spirit of unity,” he said.

The broad-based government, Ruto emphasised, is supposed to expedite transformation and development among all Kenyans and not for selfish gains or political reasons.

 On his part Mudavadi, who also doubles up as the Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, said that ANC joined UDA because as a party they believed in the ideals of the ruling party which can only be realised if the country is united.

Week-long tour

“We merged because we need to be united as Kenyans so that the policies that the President has initiated under Kenya Kwanza in key sectors like health, housing, unemployment, agriculture, and growth of the economy that had deteriorated due to debts can be achieved,” Mudavadi said, urging Kenyans to be patient with the president and support him as he delivers the promises he gave.

Touted as a development tour of the Mulembe Nation, the Head of State kicked off his six-day visit by attending the interdenominational prayers.

Today, Ruto will be in Kakamega county, where he will disburse bonuses to sugarcane farmers within Mumias Sugar Belt.

 Tomorrow, the president will host a cabinet meeting in Kakamega State Lodge before commissioning the last-mile electricity connection in Shinyalu.

On Wednesday, Ruto heads to Busia county to inspect the Lower Nzoia irrigation scheme and later commission the Luanda market in Vihiga and visit a hospital in Khwisero, Kakamega.

Come Thursday, the president will start his day in Busia where he will be inspecting the Allupe Dam before proceeding to commission the last-mile electricity connection in Nambale.

Later in the day, he will be in Bungoma touring Webuye East, Webuye West and Kimilili before heading to commission another last-mile electricity connection in the Mashivu area. He will then end his tour by visiting two markets Chepkube in Bungoma and Bumala in Busia.

With only two years to the 2027 elections, Ruto’s hope of garnering support from Central Kenya, which he has enjoyed since 2013 when he teamed up with former President Uhuru Kenyatta, has been quickly diminishing.

The president has gone back to pitching camp within the region where he has interest in and since the Central region may never back him in the forthcoming polls, he has now embarked on an aggressive vote-hunting mission in the Western and Nyanza counties.

Voting bloc

The President is eyeing the more that 2.2 million votes from across Vihiga, Bungoma, Kakamega and Busia. In the past, the region has supported opposition leader Raila Odinga and voted for him as a bloc. Raila’s backyard made up of Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay and Migori has an estimated 2.1 million registered voters.

In 2022 general elections, only Bungoma with over 600,000 voters went against the tide to vote for Ruto in the presidential polls. Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka is a long-time ally of the president.

It seems Ruto is aiming to bag majority of the votes in the Western and combine them with those from Nyanza counties to compensate for lost votes from the Mt Kenya region, if he is to return to State House in 2027.

However, the president cannot downplay the uprising Tawe Movement, being marshalled by Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya.

In Nyanza. Ruto is confronted with voter apathy especially if none of their own will be on the presidential ballot should Raila, who is their kingpin, succeeds in his bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship next month.

The mountain region has a total of 3,115,549 registered votes from its five counties including Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang’a and the populous Kiambu county with close to 1.3 voters.

During Friday’s merger event, witnessed by both Ruto and Mudavadi at State House, UDA chairperson Cecily Mbarire hinted that Lamu Governor Issa Timamy who took over ANC’s leadership after Mudavadi joined the cabinet will now serve as the UDA deputy party

Ruto met leaders from the region on Friday to finalise the itinerary of the almost week-long visit.  The leaders later took to their social media accounts to publicise Ruto’s visit and to highlight some of the projects that the President will inspect.

“We are happy to host the Head of State and look forward to a fruitful visit aimed at bettering the lives of our people,” Busia governor Paul Otuoma wrote on his Facebook account.