[President Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign team in a past rally. He was forced to postpone rallies in a section of Kakamega County due to impending hostility. Photo/Nation]
Intelligence briefing by NIS over impending hostility led to postponement of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto’s trip in a section of Kakamega County.
In the itinerary, the two were scheduled to address a series of rallies at Matungu, Mumias, Khwisero and Butere but only to be cancelled hours to the rally.
An insider in the Jubilee campaign now says NIS advised the two leaders to postpone the trip given indications that a number of youths had planned to heckle to them.
“It was a briefing by NIS and that is why we had to postpone the rallies at eleventh hour,” said the source in confidence.
He added: “Some youths had planned to cause chaos and Jubilee doesn’t want to engage in such campaigns. The president agreed with the NIS and he had to abandon the plans.”
Generally, the tour in Kakamega County, a region perceived to be opposition stronghold was successful given that Kenyatta addressed a host of rallies at Ikolomani and Bukhungu stadium.
IEBC figures for 2013 3l3ctions shows that Kenyatta lost to opposition leader Raila Odinga with a substantive margin but Jubilee has been making forays in recent weeks to the opposition turf.