Senior advisor to the president, Makau Mutua, has argued that William Ruto, has done what other presidents failed to do in Kitui County.

This comes a day after the devolved unit hosted this year’s Mashujaa Day celebrations at Ithookwe Stadium, on Monday, October 20, 2025.

The 2025 Mashujaa Day celebrations saw Kitui County get a brand new 10,000-seater stadium plus other development projects that President William Ruto pledged to the area residents, such as modern roads and water dams to boost food productivity in the larger Ukambani region.

Mutua’s sentiments come after President Ruto also pledged to construct more sports stadiums in the larger Eastern part of Kenya, specifically in Machakos and Makueni counties. ”Kenya is known as a sports hub; for that, we need more stadiums in this region. I direct CS Mvurya to ensure that we have stadiums in Machakos and Makueni,” Ruto said while presiding over the Mashujaa Day celebrations at Ithookwe Stadium.

Mutua’s take

On his part, Makau Mutu has said no Kenyan president has ever done for the Kitui community what Ruto has done. Further, he said even leaders from the region who have been in government for years failed to deliver.

”Let me say this without equivocation, fear, or favour. No previous President has done, or plans to do, more for Kitui than President William Ruto. This is a fact, not conjecture or fiction. Kitui local leaders, some of them prominent in national politics for over 40 years, have nothing to show for their longevity in power. The people of Kitui need to look in the mirror, and at each other, and speak the bitter truth to one another. A bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush,” Mutua took to X on Tuesday, October 21, 2025.

Earlier on, Makau Mutua also faulted Ukambani leaders for boycotting the Mashujaa Day celebrations. Notably, the Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka was among key and influential figures from Ukambani that did not attend the event. Adding that it was a rare opportunity to be ignored.

Absent leaders

”ALL the senior Kitui leaders — including those on the side opposite — ought to have attended the Mashujaa Day celebrations at Ithookwe Stadium (by the way, now the most immaculate of all county stadia) to join President William Ruto in honouring the Rt Hon Raila, who loved Kitui and visited often. Mammoth crowds thronged the venue,” Mutua said

”It’s lame for leaders to claim that they weren’t invited to the event. It’s strange for one to cry that they weren’t invited into their own home. Kitui most likely will wait for 46 years to again host this most hallowed of national fetes. Let’s not degrade everything into a forum for scoring cheap political points. It’s a lost chance for them to greet their own people. Sad!” He added.