President William Ruto will from Tuesday return to Mt Kenya counties to pacify the ground that propelled him to the presidency in the August 2022 elections and has since turned its back on him.
Having dispatched his Deputy Prof. Kithure Kindiki ahead of his tour to appease the restive mountain, President Ruto, who broke ranks with his former deputy-turned-foe Rigathi Gachagu, will dangle goodies to woo the mountain.
The president will be returning to the votes rich mountain since his last visit in August 2024 for a five-day working tour to launch various projects in the region with a view to slicing some chunk of the votes ahead of the 2027 polls.
In fulfilment of the pledge to ‘Mama Mboga’ and traders to ensure they have adequate space and sanitation at their places of work, Ruto will visit modern fresh produce markets in various stages of completion in Kieni (Nyeri), Laikipia East, Igembe South and Tigania East (Meru), Kirinyaga Central, Kinangop (Nyandarua) and Chuka Igambang’ombe (Tharaka-Nithi). Other markets are in Tharaka (Tharaka-Nithi), Runyenjes and Manyatta (Embu), Othaya (Nyeri) and Githunguri (Kiambu).
To connect more Kenyans to electricity and stimulate economic activities, the President will launch various Last Mile Electricity Connectivity projects in Laikipia West, Kieni (Nyeri), South Imenti (Meru), Kirinyaga Central, Ol Kalou (Nyandarua) and Manyatta (Embu).
Institutional housing has been a major challenge especially for universities, colleges and the security forces. To address this, the Housing Levy has been tackling the challenge by providing modern accommodation for the military, police, prisons, universities and colleges, including technical training institutes.
Various affordable housing projects will be inspected or launched in Laikipia East, Ol Kalou and Kinangop (Nyandarua), Kandara and Maragua (Murang’a), Chuka Igambang’ombe (Tharaka-Nithi) and Nyeri Town.
According to the State, affordable housing will alleviate shortage of accommodation, especially in urban areas, enabling many more Kenyans to secure mortgages for as low as KSh3,000, and begin to spare agricultural land more for production and less for settlement.
Crucially, the programme is also providing hundreds of thousands of jobs for young people across the country, who are hired as architects, quantity surveyors, carpenters, engineers, masons, electricians, plumbers and steel fixers.
In Mbeere South constituency (Embu), Ruto will also inspect the ongoing Kiambere Bulk Water Project and visit the section of Mau Mau Road under construction in Lari Constituency (Kiambu). The roads were recently allocated KSh5billion and are being built along the Aberdare and Mt Kenya forests in Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyandarua and Nyeri counties respectively.
