So sudden and secretive was President Uhuru Kenyatta's Tuesday impromptu visit of Kisumu that even area governor and his deputy were not aware, it has emerged.
Uhuru made yet another sudden tour of the Kisumu Port, which has been undergoing a face-lift, a project that had been linked to his 2018 truce with ODM leader Raila Odinga.
But emerging details indicate that so sudden was the tour that area governor Anyang Nyongo and his deputy Mathews Owilli, who normally welcome him to the city, remained in their offices unaware of his arrival.
Residents who attempted to rush to the scene to witness what was going on, after seeing helicopters landing, were also not lucky as police had already cordoned off the area.
The Standard reports that at some point, an officer manning the main gate was forced to cock his gun to push back a crowd that wanted to storm in to 'greet the president'.
Youths at the gate demanded to be allowed in, with some thinking that Uhuru was accompanied by Raila.
“We cannot be denied access to our President. Allow us to greet him,” said one of them.
Apparently to avoid creating more attention in the streets, where residents were already lining up, Uhuru is said to have hoped into Regional Police Commander Vincent Makokha's double-cab vehicle.
He is said to have done the same alongside his Aide-De-Camp, forcing Mr Makokha to hop into a different vehicle to escort the President to the Yatch Club.
"God sometimes pulls up surprises. I didn’t expect he could board my car," said Makokha who had to get a lift.
The Head of State left for the Yatch Club where he again caught staff flatfooted, with the watchman confusing him for a lookalike.
“I thought it was a lookalike of the President. He waved at me,” said Thomas Ouma, a watchman.