President William Ruto embarked on his five-day working tour of the Coast region yesterday, commissioning various projects before joining British King Charles and Queen Camilla at the Mtongwe Naval Base in Mombasa.

The President, who was accompanied by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, commissioned the Wasini-Mkwiro electricity mini-grid at Lungalunga, Kwale county before presiding over the ground breaking and inspection of Shimoni Fish port.

But, while speaking at Mkwiro and Wasini islands during the launch of the electricity mini-grid, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua defended President Ruto over accusations of increased foreign tours.
Gachagua praised his boss for devolving development to remote regions while rebuking those opposed to the foreign trips.

“Mr President, we want to thank you, because this development project has been actualised through the help of foreign funding, but there are those making noise about your trips, we want to tell them the fruits of foreign trips have been witnessed in development,” he said.

President’s trips

Gachagua said Kenyans cannot solve internal problems alone without seeking foreign aid and thus the president’s trips should not be misconstrued while asking coastal residents to support the Kenya Kwanza administration.

“I want to encourage you to continue going anywhere in the world, where Kenyans can get help, if you see America or China are best to help us develop our country, we tell you to continue going, because Kenyans gave you the power to do so to bring help to us, we don’t have the power to solve our problems alone,” said Gachagua.

President Ruto pledged to use the military in connecting the Mkwiro and Wasini islands with road connectivity. He said the intention of the government is to open up the country to economic opportunities.

Speaking after commissioning the power connectivity, President Ruto further pledged Sh700 million to help Kwale Beach Management Units (BMUs) in Kwale county to train and rebuild fish landing sites.
“We have given them Sh700 million for the BMUs to tap into the ocean resource, and that is why we are planning to put up fish landing sites, train and empower the people to ensure they grow their economies,” said Ruto.

The president also announced that the Sh2 billion Shimoni Port will be completed in order to improve the blue economy in the region and the country at large. The fish port, he said, will be complete in two years.
“We have invested Sh2 billion to build the Shimoni port, the port has been delayed for long, but we promise that in two years time, it will be complete and it will accelerate the economy of the region,” said Ruto.

Support President

Several coastal leaders accompanied the president led by Cabinet Secretary for Mining and Blue Economy Salim Mvurya and Governor Fatuma Achani, who vowed to support president Ruto in the 2027 presidential contest.

The president is on a five-day coastal tour which started on Wednesday barely three months after a similar tour to the region. President Ruto was in the region in July.

Today (Friday), he is set to chair a Cabinet meeting at State House, Mombasa, an event to be followed by a tour of the Moi International Airport.

He is later scheduled to preside over the taxpayers’ day and the issuance of community fisheries grants in the same county.

Tomorrow, the President will be in Lamu where he will commission the Lamu East Road before embarking on an inspection tour of the Lamu Technical Training Institute and the Bura Irrigation Scheme.
On Sunday, he will grace an Interdenominational thanksgiving prayer which has been planned for Mombasa.

The Head of State will wrap up his tour with an inspection tour of the Baricho water supply project in Malindi and commission the last mile electricity connectivity project in Ganze.
He will also tour Kinango Technical Training Institute.

The region is perceived to be one of Azimio leader Raila Odinga’s key strong hold and has over the years rallied behind him.

In Mombasa, Raila had 161,015 votes compared to Ruto’s 113,700 in the last election.
In Kwale, as Raila obtained 125, 541 votes, Ruto managed 51, 918 whereas in Kilifi Raila got 204, 536 votes as Ruto managed 77, 331 votes.

In Tana River, Raila got 51, 390 with Ruto coming closely with 41, 505 votes while in Lamu, Raila had 26, 160 as Ruto got 22, 876 votes.