Allies of President William Ruto have warned residents of Western to be cautious about the opposition’s agenda, alleging a plot to confuse voters ahead of next year’s general election.
They claimed the Edwin Sifuna-led Linda Mwananchi movement has no agenda for the region and that it is being used by former President Uhuru Kenyatta for selfish political reasons.
They spoke during an empowerment event for TukTuk operators in the Lurambi constituency. The event was held at Approved School in Kakamega town.
Lurambi MP Titus Khamala said Uhuru’s plan is to scare Luhyas out of government.
“Beware of political tricksters out to push you out of government. They want to use your numbers so they can make political deals with Ruto and leave you. We’re aware the opposition is pushing to get to the table with President Ruto. We’re already on the table as people from Western and we’ll not leave,” Khamala said.
He accused the opposition of peddling lies about the Kenya Kwanza administration so as to make Ruto look bad in the eyes of Kenyans.
The MP said he was a testimony that the Social Health Authority is working after it paid his Sh500,000 medical bill at Avenue Hospital in Parklands, Nairobi where he underwent an operation a month ago.
He asked young politicians to respect their seniors and desist from hurling abuses, saying every Kenyan has a right to belong to a political formation of their choice.
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot said Uhuru’s plan to mislead and use youthful Western leaders was already in the public domain and will fail.
Cheruiyot said the retired president was fighting Ruto because of his resolve to equalise development across Kenyans.
“Uhuru is fighting Ruto because he is implementing projects he failed to actualise in his 10 years as president and taking development to regions in this country where past regimes including Uhuru’s ignored for decades,” he said.
Other leaders who attended the event and trained their guns on Uhuru included Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, Ruto aide Farouk Kibet and MPs Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), Peter Nabulindo (Matungu), David Ndakwa (Malava) and Innocent Mugabe (Likuyani).
Farouk asked Kenyans to reject leaders who are preaching disunity among them.
He urged Kenyans to instead chose leaders who are focused on uniting the country and their empowerment to improve lives.
Ndakwa said the spirited campaigns by the opposition to disrupt Ruto’s leadership are aimed at derailing Western region from ascending to power in 2032.
He said Western region has been sidelined in terms of development by past regimes including Uhuru who he accused of mobilising and funding the opposition.
Barasa said that Ruto does not have an opponent in 2027. “We already have a candidate in the name of William Ruto, yet they (the opposition) are still taking tea in hotels and do not know who their candidate is,” he said.
He said Luhya leaders were pushing for all eligible voters to register and ensure the region delivers majority votes to Ruto in next year’s election.
