President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto addressing the press at State House, Nairobi. Photo: standardmedia.co.ke
President Uhuru Kenyatta will not make a stop-over in Migori County during his upcoming tour of the Nyanza region.
Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto were to visit Kuria on Monday before heading to the Gusii region, Kisii and Nyamira counties.
The Jubilee leaders were to launch the Motemorabu-Masaba road in Kisii and the Migori- Kehancha road in Migori before addressing members of the Kuria community in Isebania.
Sources close to State House have revealed why the president decided to skip Migori County during the tour.
The source said the tour was cancelled following a meeting between the Kikuyu Council of Elders and their Kuria counterparts in Migori at the weekend.
“There are serious and deeply-rooted clan politics in this region that must be ironed out before the President can come to Kuria,” a senior government official was quoted by the Standard.
Early this year, DP Ruto was treated to a hostile reception in Isebania as ODM leader Raila Odinga held a parallel rally in the town in his campaigns.
On January 19, a close ally to the DP and Jubilee’s point man in the region Mathias Robi, were forced to run for their lives after rowdy opposition supporters attacked them.
This happened just before Raila held a rally in the same area.
Gusii region politicians have accused the President and his deputy of playing public relations politics since the general election is fast approaching.
“The President had five years to launch all these projects but he chose to ignore the community. We welcome him to the region but let him tell us what he has done and not what he intends to do because his time is up,” Timothy Bosire, Kitutu Masaba MP said ahead of Uhuru’s tour in the region this week.