Why Kindiki is taking Ruto’s vote hunt to the villages

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has shifted UDA’s campaign from urban rallies to rural grassroots mobilisation, aiming to consolidate support for President William Ruto ahead of election.

Over the past two months, Kindiki has crisscrossed at least 70 grassroots stations, moving from interior wards to small trading centres, inspecting projects, commissioning works and holding low-key public engagements designed to bring government closer to ordinary citizens.

Unlike the traditional political playbook that leans heavily on mass rallies in major towns, the DP’s itinerary has been deliberately granular, starting early morning site visits and culminating in brief afternoon addresses, often after hours of direct interaction with project beneficiaries.

In Rabai constituency, Kilifi county, residents said it was the first time a senior government official had ventured deep into the interior to inspect a technical training institution and electrification projects.

The visit, residents said, carried more weight than a rally in a nearby town, where audiences are often repetitive and detached from the direct impact of government programmes.

UDA insiders say the approach is informed by a simple calculation that voters are more likely to trust and support the government when they can physically see and experience development projects.

“Rallies create noise, but projects create conviction,” a strategist familiar with the tours said. “When someone uses a road, gets electricity, or sells in a modern market, that becomes personal.”

This ‘project-first politics’ is now at the heart of the administration’s broader vote-hunting strategy, aimed at countering opposition claims that the government has failed to deliver.

In Baringo county’s Mogotio constituency, Kindiki pointed to stalled electrification projects, including a transformer in Kapkararam that had remained inactive for years, as evidence of past neglect now being addressed.

President Ruto spoke to the DP’s activities, saying they have been of immense help to his administration and to delivering the Singapore dream.

“He has been to many places, three times more places than his predecessor (me),” the President said during a thanksgiving service at Chuka Igambang’ombe.

Similar narratives have played out across counties, with the DP highlighting resumed road works following the clearance of pending bills and the rollout of last-mile electricity connections.

Across Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Meru and Embu counties, Kindiki has consistently tied development to tangible economic outcomes, citing linking roads to market access, electrification to small businesses and modern markets to improved livelihoods for small-scale traders.

During a recent tour of Kigumo and Kandara constituencies in Murang’a, he oversaw the commissioning of Kangari market, inspection of road upgrades and progress on a 712-unit affordable housing project.

He also flagged off materials for a Sh1.1 billion electricity connectivity programme targeting 14,000 households.

In Baringo, he launched and inspected multiple infrastructure projects, including roads, markets and electrification schemes, part of a wider Sh32 billion road upgrade programme covering 854km in the county.

Similar patterns have been replicated in Kisii, where modern markets are under construction, and in Kilifi, where electrification and housing projects are being rolled out alongside road works spanning hundreds of kilometres.

The messaging has remained consistent: development as proof of delivery, and delivery as the basis for political support.

Analysts say the strategy reflects lessons learned from previous elections, where visibility of government projects at the grassroots often translated into voter loyalty.

By taking leaders directly to villages, the administration is seeking to ‘depoison’ opposition narratives and replace them with lived experiences.

Crucially, the tours are also doubling as civic education platforms. In many stops, Kindiki has held public sensitisation forums to explain government programmes such as universal healthcare, affordable housing and technical training reforms.

The idea is to explain the initiatives that have often been criticised but remain poorly understood in rural areas.

In Kilifi, for instance, he highlighted enrolment in the Taifa Care programme and ongoing investments in housing, markets and electrification, framing them as part of efforts to ensure equitable development across historically marginalised regions.

The sequencing of the visits, inspection first, rally later, underscores a deliberate shift in political communication. Rather than leading with rhetoric, the government is betting on demonstrable results to anchor its message.

Within UDA ranks, there is growing confidence that the village-focused campaign could reshape the political landscape by the time the country heads to the next polls.

As UDA director for resource mobilisation, Nathaniel Mong’are put it: “You don’t win elections in boardrooms or rallies alone, you win them in villages, one project at a time.”