DP William Ruto and his tanga tanga team will pitch camp Western Kenya, as he tries to get a share of the Luhya votes in 2o22.
Ruto returns to Western two weeks after he marked Mashujaa Day at Bukhungu stadium in Kakamega town. He will preside over a fundraiser for churches in Malava constituency tomorrow.
MP Malulu Injendi (Jubilee) said everything is set for the big event at Malava Primary School. From Malava, the DP will proceed to Mumias East constituency for another funds drive in aid of boda boda riders.
Ruto’s Personal Assistant Farouk Kibet had earlier indicated that his boss would visit Kakamega in person to ask locals to back his 2022 presidential bid. Mr Kibet dropped the hint during a funds drive he presided recently at Sirungai Girls Secondary School in Malava.
It will be the first time Ruto will be returning to the region since Opposition chief Raila Odinga was named African Union (AU) special envoy. Politicians allied to the DP have been piling pressure on Raila to exit the local political scene and concentrate on his new regional mandate. R
aila is seen as Ruto’s main challenger for the presidency in 2022. Ruto will walk shoulder high to Western buoyed by recent remarks by the President Uhuru that he would back his Deputy as earlier agreed.
Uhuru was under intense pressure to disclose his position about the 2022 succession battle from Rift Valley politicians. Political commentator Martin Andati believes Ruto is busy doing leg work in Western to endear himself to the Luhya community.
“He is busy making inroads with a focus on getting a share of Western bloc votes,” said Andati. He argues that Raila accepted the AU role in order to re-engineer himself, create networks and mobilise resources to mount a robust campaign machinery that could guarantee him victory.
“The special envoy position gives Raila opportunity to engage both China and the West both of whom have huge interests in Africa. He holds a very influential docket,” he said. Raila has an upper hand in terms of political support in Western and other parts of the country compared to Ruto, he said.
“It means, he (Raila) will get a lion’s share of votes in Western but Ruto could walk away with a significant fraction, may be 40 per cent in case he manages to stick with Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula and Dr Khalwale,” observed Andati.
He believes Amani leader Musalia Mudavadi could be rendered irrelevant if he fails to read the writings on the wall and join either of the two camps. “He would be forced to join Raila or Ruto since 2022 succession politics is fast shaping up into a two-horse-race between the DP and the opposition leader.” Andati avers that there are indications Wetang’ula could have sanctioned Dr Khalwale to start drumming support for Ruto in Western.