President William Ruto is today set to hold a consultative meeting with western Kenya leaders in Kakamega as he moves to cement his grip on the region in his bid to lock out Azimio leader Raila Odinga.

The tour is a culmination of meetings the President has been having with the region’s leaders, including Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.

Ruto is expected to land at the Kakamega airstrip at 9am and be received by, among others,  Mudavadi, Wetang’ula and Governor Fernandes Barasa. He will then proceed to the Kakamega State Lodge in Lurambi Constituency for a closed-door meeting with leaders from the region.

Former Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali, a close ally of the President, said that apart from meeting leaders to hear from them the issues they want his government to address, he will also upgrade certain projects.

Of priority, Washiali told People Daily, is the government’s financial contribution to the completion of the construction of Kakamega Referral and Teaching Hospital that was started under Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.

Washiali said leaders have petitioned the national government to grant a public-private partnership model for the unfinished Level Six hospital.

The first phase of the hospital has been built at the cost of Sh2.1 billion by the county government. An additional Sh8 billion is needed to complete and equip it.

Ruto will also address the completion of the construction of Kakamega airstrip and an upgrade to allow direct flights from Nairobi, Mombasa and other parts of the country. “Today’s meeting will be attended by leaders from Bungoma, Kakamega, Busia, Trans Nzoia and Vihiga,” Washiali disclosed.

Ruto’s tour of the region comes on the backdrop of reports of several politicians elected on parties affiliated to the Azimio One Kenya alliance headed by Raila  trooping to  Ruto’s side in what looks like a strategy by the President to deflate Azimio before the next elections.

Already, he has won Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary General Francis Atwoli, Barasa and his deputy Ayub Savula and MPs Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), Bishop Titus Khamala (Lurambi) and Ben Shinali to his side.

One governor

In the August 9 General Election, Raila’s ODM took eight out of 12 parliamentary seats in Kakamega while Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC) got the Malava, Navakholo and Shinyalu seats in Kakamega County.

The eight  constituencies that ODM won the seats and whose MPs are now oscillating towards Ruto are Ikolomani,  Khwisero, Butere, Matungu, Mumias West, Lurambi, Likuyani and Lugari.

Peter Salasya is the only DAP-K MP in Kakamega.

In the larger Western region, Kenya Kwanza has only one governor, Bungoma’s Ken Lusaka, who was elected on a Ford Kenya ticket.

During the tour, the President is also expected to visit Mumias Sugar Company to inspect the factory which is undergoing renovation. He will then proceed to Ikolomani to inspect the Gold Refinery Plant.

The Head of State will thereafter embark on several meet-the-people tours before returning to State Lodge later in the afternoon for a meeting with  leaders.

On Friday, Ruto is scheduled to grace a graduation ceremony at the Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST).

The President is keen to win over Western region which has over the years largely leaned towards Raila. In the last presidential election, Raila garnered 955,185 votes compared to Ruto’s  611,475 votes.

While Ruto will be touring Kakamega, residents of the neighbouring Bungoma will be electing their new Senator in a battle pitting, among others, Mwambu Mabonga of his UDA party and Wafula Wakoli of Wetang’ula’s Ford-Kenya.

 The by-election has led to  rifts in the Kenya Kwanza’s local leadership with Mudavadi and Wetang’ula  supporting Wakoli while Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has been campaigning for Mwambu.

Khalwale has angered some leaders with his criticism of Mudavadi and Wetang’ula.

He told campaign rallies in the county that the residents did not vote for Kenya Kwanza candidates in the August 9 election because of Mudavadi and Wetang’ula.

“I urge you to prove your direct love for the President by voting for Mwambu who is his preferred candidate,” he said at a campaign rally on Tuesday.

Khalwale’s  darts were seen as a direct jab at the duo who had been in Bungoma over the weekend campaigning for Wakoli.