President Uhuru Kenyatta has drawn up an elaborate diary that will see him shift daily operations from State House, Nairobi, to regional State Lodges for the next nine months.
The move is part of Uhuru’s bigger political strategy to consolidate his vote blocs and endear himself to the opposition strongholds, less than 20 months to the epic 2017 general election.
The Star has learnt that Uhuru will spend less time travelling outside the country, though he is set to host a number of heads of states and has accepted an invitation to a state visit to Israel next month.
Nigerian President Muhammad Buhari is expected to make a state visit on February 27 and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi earlier the same month.
Kenya is also set to host the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in July and the Tokyo International Conference in September.
Part of the plan, the Star has established, is to have Uhuru interact with opinion leaders from all regions at the grassroots level and initiate several overdue development projects that were integral in Jubilee’s 2013 campaigns.
This is in response to concerns among Jubilee MPs who are staring at losing their seats if the government fails to implement key projects, among them roads, on whose campaign agenda they were elected.
During a meeting between Jubilee MPs and the President at State House, Nairobi, in December, the legislators complained that the government had delayed the rollout of crucial projects, an issue that had set them against the electorate.
Uhuru, who has been at the Coast since December, is set to move camp to the Mt Kenya region in February, where he will be involved in official business and politics.
His operation base will be the Sagana State Lodge and he is expected to tour Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Laikipia, Nyandarua, Meru, Embu and Isiolo during his planned one-month stay in the region.
The Star has learnt that from there the President is expected to move to the Nakuru State House, with the focus shifting to the Rift Valley.
The Rift Valley tour may cover a period of up to two months, according to government sources familiar with the President’s plans.
In Rift Valley, the President will assess the impact that his government has had, especially on farmers’ livelihoods in the region.
After Rift Valley, the President will move to Western Kenya and will operate from State House, Kisumu, to cover the Western and Nyanza regions.
“The President is keen to replicate what he has done in the Coast region for the lengthy period he has been there to other regions. He will move to Samburu, to Sagana, to Kakamega, to Nakuru, to Eldoret and even to Kisumu ,” Senate Majority leader Kithure Kindiki told the Star.
After the tours all these regions and many more will not be the same again, Kindiki said.
The Star has established that the Presidential Delivery Unit is said to have assessed the implementation of key campaign promises and found out that they are behind schedule, complicating Uhuru’s reelection bid.