• Machogu said their visit to Kuria to launch development programmes shows that the government was keen on working with the community.
• Owalo said the Kenya Kwanza government has made sure appointments in the region have been equitably shared.
Image: WILLIAM RUTO/TWITTER
President William Ruto men on Friday toured development projects in Kuria, Migori county.
They were led by ICT CS Eliud Owalo and his Education counterpart Ezekiel Machogu.
The two were hosted by Kuria West MP Mathias Robi, his Kuria East counterpart Marwa Kitayama and other local leaders allied to Kenya Kwanza.
Other leaders present included Interior PS Raymond Omollo.
“Before leaving for these functions in the community, both the President and the Deputy President knew we were here and they say thanks for your support,” Machogu said at St Mary’s Mabera Secondary School.
Machogu said their visit to Kuria to launch development programmes shows that the government was keen on working with the community.
“We want to assure the Kuria community that soon the Deputy President will be hosted here and later the president. The Kuria community are our people,” Machogu said.
Owalo said the Kenya Kwanza government has made sure appointments in the region have been equitably shared.
“The President has been good with appointments for us people of Migori and Nyanza,” he said.
Owalo said they will ensure the bottom up economic model is successful.
Robi said both Owalo and Machogu hail from Nyanza region and they will be their point men to solidify the Kuria community and the region which is ODM leader Raila Odinga stronghold to swing towards Ruto.
“We all hail from Nyanza and we have decided to build our background both politically and in development. We will make sure the entire region is not left in political cold under Ruto,” Robi said.
The two were speaking at St Mary’s Mabera Secondary School in Kuria West constituency where they inspected work progress on Sh10 million dormitory donated by the government.
The team also led a groundbreaking ceremony for the building of 10 primary and secondary schools and commissioned free public WiFi at five spots in the region-Mabera TTI, Isebania market, Ntimaru market, Kegonga market and Kendege TTI.
Nyatike constituency politician Odiso Ogenga said in the past five months they have hosted over five development tours by Cabinet secretaries in Migori.
“As those close to Ruto, we are keen on Kuria which commands about a quarter of Migori votes and has been our stronghold in the last elections. We will use it as a launchpad to capture Migori votes in next polls,” Ogenga said.
On August 9, Ruto garnered 65.13 per cent of votes from Kuria East and Kuria West constituencies, retained the two area legislators and allies on UDA ticket Marwa Kitayama and Mathias Robi respectively.
Raila got 34.17 per cent of votes.
In results released by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Ruto got 29,212 votes in Kuria West constituency while Raila received 12,106 votes.
In Kuria East, Ruto got 16,795 votes and Raila got 12,031.