In a rare gesture where resident Uhuru Kenyatta visited a semi-permanent house in Kiambu during a tour to the region to inspect on the subsidised electricity project, the move has been received with mixed reactions among Kenyans.
Many saw it as a gesture of the president mingling with people from all social classes. However, this is different from Garissa activist Mary Amina who says the move by the president is hypocritical if he can’t withdraw the directive on the repatriation of the refugees despite many efforts and cries from different bodies.
“The president should have shown mercy to over 50,000 refugees at the refugee camps in Dadaab and Kakuma. There are millions of women and small children who are set to suffer from the exercise. The president should have begun by showing mercy to them,” she says.
The refugees are set to be repatriated by the end of the year and President Kenyatta said the move is irreversible.
“The president is using that opportunity to gain political mileage and he is not sympathetic at all,’’ added the activist.