- Sources well versed with his itinerary say DP will proceed to a series of private meetings with leaders drawn from the Coast.
- He will then visit MP Ali’s Nyali office at 2pm from where he will visit the modern community library the MP has set up in his constituency.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
Deputy President William Ruto is expected to jet into Mombasa at around 10am today and will be received by a delegation of friendly MPs led by Nyali’s Mohammed Ali, who is emerging as one of Ruto’s key allies at the Coast.
The DP, according to sources well versed with his itinerary, will then proceed to a series of private meetings with leaders drawn from the whole Coast region.
He will visit Ali’s Nyali office at 2pm from where he will visit the modern community library the MP has set up in his constituency.
“The DP is happy with Ali’s development record in the short time he has been in office. He wants to be associated with such leaders so he can show Kenya that even those who have no name can take Kenya forward,” said one of Ruto’s key strategists in Mombasa.
A highly placed source Friday morning told the Star the DP will walk from the library to Kongowea market where he will tour the stalls and meet with the traders.
“His idea is to let the people talk. He wants to hear from the horse’s mouth what the hustler nation has to say.
“For a long time, Mombasa leaders have been the ones telling of the problems residents are facing. This time, Number Two wants to hear from the hustlers themselves what they are going through,” the source said.
Ali was coy about the DP’s itinerary, only saying he is there for the people of Mombasa.
“The DP is a man who goes to where there is a problem so he can solve it. We actually do not know where he will be going or at what time. But he will be visiting the people’s office in Nyali,” Ali said.
The DP will have a meeting with the elderly, who were recently given a one-year NHIF cover by Ali’s CDF office.
He is expected to be accompanied by Hassan Omar, the former Mombasa senator, who is prepping for another stab at the governor's position in Mombasa.
Omar, who recently dumped Wiper, has been close to Ali and it is believed he is becoming another key cog in the hustler nation’s camp.
If the BBI passes with regional governments being approved, then Omar is likely to go for the regional governor seat, it is believed.
Ruto has been eyeing the Kwale county, where he wants to have his people strategically placed to take over most of the elective seats.
Kwale county, it is believed, is the next big thing with mineral depots being discovered in the hilly parts of the county.
The DP was set to meet women's leaders from Mombasa but that is now up in the air following reports of infighting for control of the programme.
On Thursday, two different programmes emerged showing two itineraries supposedly for the DP.
One showed the DP would be visiting the Inua Mama Mashinani Jenga Taifa offices at the GPO while the other indicated he will be heading to Mvita to visit the Kenya Women for Change Organization.
However, insiders say these might be shelved to avoid chaos as the DP does not want to be associated with squabbles.
Ali said he was not aware of a meeting with any women planned for the DP.
“The DP is here strictly to listen to the hustlers’ woes in terms of business opportunities and the suffering they have been undergoing. Anything else, I am not aware of,” he said.
“He is here to discuss issues to do with Mombasa and the way forward. You know how Mombasa is being reduced to a shell city by some policies that are detrimental.”
Inua Jamii Mashinani Jenga Taifa director Stella Kemboi denied infighting among the women in Mombasa over the DP’s visit.
She denied she was among the leaders to receive Ruto at Moi International Airport in Mombasa.
Khadija Muhsin, who vied for the Mombasa woman representative seat on a Jubilee ticket in 2017, also denied knowledge of a planned meeting with women.
Edited by Henry Makori