Deputy President William Ruto will this weekend tour Western Kenya.
The region was considered an opposition stronghold, but Jubilee has made major inroads and weakened the influence.
The DP is expected to commission a project in Hamisi constituency in Vihiga county today before heading to Lurambi in Kakamega tomorrow.
In Kakamega, Ruto has been invited to launch a new programme by the One Acre Fund, which has been supporting group farming in Western region.
The DP's point man in Western Kenya Ben Washiali said, "The DP will be commissioning One Acre Fund’s new dairy programme at Ikonyero on the invitation of the organisation."
Ruto will use the occasion to outline the government’s programme, including the supply of subsidised fertiliser, as the much-anticipated long rains set in.
The DP is also expected to address the war against graft. Ruto has criticised anti-graft agencies which he accuses of targeting him.
He has said the war against corruption has been hijacked by some individuals with a political agenda to tarnish other people's names.
The DP suffered a blow when one of his key allies in the region Rashid Echesa was sacked. President Uhuru Kenyatta fired him as the Sports Cabinet Secretary during a Cabinet reshuffle on March 1.
Echesa was replaced by former Education CS Amina Mohamed and Prof George filled her position.
Since then, Ruto’s activities in the region have considerably slowed. Yesterday, Malava MP Malulu Injendi, one of the DP's backers, said they had decided to keenly watch the unfolding events before coming out strongly.
“Sometimes, you must tactically retreat and study what’s going on before you strike gain,” he told the Star on the phone.
The DP has been courting Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya to join him ahead of the next poll. Oparanya has declared interest in the Presidency come 2022.
Edited by Pamela Wanambisi
