President William Ruto is going flat out to deliver his campaign pledges to the Mount Kenya region, a key constituency whose vote is believed to have propelled him to power.
The President held a closed-door meeting with all elected leaders from Mount Kenya and top officials from the executive at the Sagana State Lodge to plan the development region’s agenda.
The meeting was also attended by nearly all Principal Secretaries from the region as well as parastatal chairman and chief executive officers.
Speaking during an interdenominational prayer meeting also held at the State Lodge, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said the agenda was on growth.
“We are going to have a meeting with the President and the MPs, senators, ministers and PSs and parastatal heads to plan the development of the region,” he said.
On Tuesday, Ruto and top bureaucrats in his administration will host 10 governors from the larger Mount Kenya region, including Nakuru.
Ruto is keen on road expansion, access to water and reforms in the agriculture sector, especially tea and coffee, as well as education and health.
The President’s tour that began on Saturday should last five days.
On Sunday, Ruto thanked the region for voting for him and pledged he will not fail the country.
“Many people did not believe the people of Mount Kenya cannot elect somebody who is not from the region with nearly 90 per cent support. You have made our country proud,” Ruto said.
It is believed that Ruto’s hold on the vote-rich region would be a major determinant of his re-election bid.
At the same event, Gachagua declared that Mt Kenya region has significant representation in the Kenya Kwanza government because of deliberate design and strategy.
According to the DP, his region laid a solid political strategy, fighting off criticism that he was advocating nepotism in government.
“We sat down and agreed with President Ruto on the representation of this region in government,” he said as he praised Ruto for what he termed living up to his promise.
The DP said the President has kept every bit of his campaign promises to the region, a few months after polls.
He dismissed critics who have come out strongly to dismiss his shareholding analogy of the government, saying his mind is clear that one must invest before reaping.
“You can’t harvest where you have not planted. We are in this government by choice and by design,” he said.
“Yes we are the majority by design and by strategy because we invested in this government.”
The opposition has often criticised Gachagua for likening the government to a shareholding company in which majority shareholders get higher stakes.
Gachagua also declared Ruto as the leader of the Mt Kenya region.
By Emodia Hallan