A section of President William Ruto’s close allies intensified their grassroots empowerment campaigns across Nandi and Western Kenya counties over the weekend, targeting women and youth with economic support programs.
In Nandi,
Aldai MP Maryanne Keitany led a women empowerment programme at Kobujoi,
bringing together local women groups in a drive that focused on enterprise
development and financial inclusion.
Officials
later joined her for a similar initiative in Shinyalu, Kakamega County.
The team
then proceeded to Malava, Kakamega, for a major youth and women empowerment
event attended by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Deputy President
Kithure Kindiki, and other senior national and county leaders.
Speaking at
the event, Farouk Kibet, a close political aide to President Ruto, said:
“We believe
in the bottom-up economic agenda, which is why we are working with women to
empower them and better their lives. Those we compete with don’t believe in
ordinary citizens, and that’s why they don’t champion any empowerment
activity.”
National
Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula used the occasion to criticise what he termed
as divisive ethnic rhetoric by some senior political leaders.
“Tribal
politics have no place in our country. While addressing wananchi at Busende
Primary School, I faulted former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for
exporting tribal politics by addressing only members of his ethnic community
while on tour in the U.S.,” Wetang’ula said.
“At a time
when President Ruto and Raila Odinga are working to unify the nation, this kind
of ethnic rhetoric undermines national cohesion. The diaspora is diverse and
must be treated as such.”
He also
called on security agencies to go beyond arresting protesters and pursue
leaders he claimed were behind the Saba Saba demonstrations.
“The youth
didn’t mobilize themselves. Let us deal with those who sponsored and incited
them,” he added.
Interior
Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki highlighted several ongoing government
projects in the Western region, touching on infrastructure, healthcare, and
sports development.
“To
accelerate socio-economic transformation, we’re investing in critical
infrastructure, including roads and electricity. The Airstrip-Shinyalu road
upgrade is underway, and 26,000 households in Kakamega will benefit from power
connectivity at a cost of Sh 2.5 billion,” Kindiki noted.
He said the
government is committed to revamping Kakamega Level Six Hospital, with the
Kenya Defence Forces overseeing its completion by next year.
“In Busia
County, 12 new markets with modern facilities are under construction to support
small traders and women entrepreneurs,” he said.
“We are also
supporting over 100 women groups to grow their enterprises.”
Kindiki
added that the subsidised fertiliser programme has boosted food production and
increased income for farmers.
He further said sugarcane growers in the region had begun earning bonuses, a first since the crop’s introduction in 1902.
Speaking during a fundraiser for the Malava Empowerment Programme at Luanda-K in Malava Constituency, Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi dismissed claims by a section of leaders that President William Ruto will rig the next election, terming the remarks as “cheap politics.”
Mudavadi affirmed that the new commission will deliver free, fair, and credible elections in which Ruto will win democratically, not through vote rigging.
DP Kithure Kindiki and Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi during the empowerment drive.
“No one should tarnish the integrity of the IEBC. Let us not blemish the future of this country by making jokes about serious national matters,” he said.
“It is cheap politics to claim that Ruto will steal the election. We are not in the business of rigging votes but in the business of earning legitimate votes and winning fairly.”
He said he had predicted Ruto’s victory in 2022 and maintains that he will win again in 2027.
Also present
at the empowerment drives were Busia Governor Paul Otuoma, MPs Catherine Omanyo
(Busia), Mary Emase (Teso South), Raphael Wanjala (Budalang’i), Tim Wanyonyi
(Westlands), Ruth Odinga (Kisumu), Christine Ombaka (Siaya), John Waluke
(Sirisia), Nabii Nabwera (Lugari), Dickson Maungu (Luanda), and several county
assembly members from the region.
The leaders emphasised that these outreach activities are part of the Kenya Kwanza government’s plan to enhance service delivery at the grassroots and build stronger ties with communities through sustained support to women and youth-led initiatives.
