President William Ruto is set to meet a delegation from Ukambani at State House, Nairobi, this morning to cement relationship and deliberate on the region’s development agenda.

He is also expected to help forge a unity of purpose among the leaders.

The delegation, it is hoped, will petition Ruto to complete stalled development projects in the region.

 Such projects include the Kitui-Kibwezi-Kabati-Migwani-Mbondoni road that stalled at Kwa Siku in Mwingi West, some 27km away before connecting to the Nairobi-Thika-Mwingi-Garissa highway at Mbondoni.

Others include Thwake and Umaa dams in Makueni and Kitui counties which are destined to provide water for domestic, livestock, irrigation, hydropower and even industrial activities in the counties.

Broader engagement

Other matters on the agenda are affordable housing, health, electricity, markets and beefing security at the boarder of Kitui and Tana River counties.

Labour CS Labour Alfred Mutua, who is in the forefront in initiating a good-working relationship between regional leaders and the Kenya Kwanza administration, said today’s broader engagement will involve all elected and nominated leaders in the region’s three counties, youth, clergy, opinion leaders and professionals of different cadres.

After the deliberations, it will be the president’s prerogative to discuss whether or not to continue with the planned tour of the region.

By the time of going to press, none of the region’s governors—Julius Malombe (Kitui), Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos) and Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni)—had openly indicated their intent to attend the meeting.

Development agenda

Initially, Ruto was supposed to start his three-day tour of Ukambani today but he shelved the idea in a bid to first bring on board all regional leaders.

The president said he held a consultative meeting with leaders from Machakos, Makueni and Kitui counties at State House, Nairobi, last week where discussions zeroed in on critical infrastructure projects, including roads, water, education, affordable housing and markets that are essential to the region’s transformation.

“We are aligning our development agenda with the priorities of the people through continuous consultation with leaders and stakeholders. Our objective is to deliver inclusive growth from the bottom going up,” the president said.

Speaking earlier, Mutua said after a highly successful consultative meeting with the president, it was agreed that a broader engagement with leaders be held before Ruto’s visit to the region.

Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse said when the president hosted them at State House, it was collectively agreed that he needs to do more consultations in order to reach a wider population during his tour.