Khalwale accuses Ruto of betraying Western region

Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has hit out at President William Ruto for allegedly shifting his development agenda from the Western region to Nyanza.

Speaking in Malinya, Ikolomani Constituency, the Senate Majority Whip urged the president to fulfill all promises made to Western residents.

“A week ago we were at the State House as leaders from the Western region, and when I looked at what the President invited us to discuss, I was not a happy man. The president told us he is going to construct certain roads and other things. I was shocked, and I told the President that we respect him and we voted for him, and when we meet with him, we don’t want to discuss with him what he wants to do but rather what he is doing,” said Dr Khalwale.

The outspoken senator said Western region had many stalled projects that the Head of State had publicly promised to complete.

“It is now three years, and we have stalled roads, and the story is the same. We will do this; we will complete that. We are appealing to the president about the issue of doing this and that, and yet we have finished two years, and we are in the third year of his term. We do not want such  kind of politics which is unreliable, and we want the politics that will deliver what had been promised,” said Khalwale.

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The Majority Whip vowed not to remain quiet when the region is being taken for a ride.

“We want the President to deliver and not mere promises. I have told him as Khalwale to deliver, and I promise never to play the politics of being quiet like Mudavadi and Wetangulas,” he said.

The UDA senator said late President Mwai Kibaki reciprocated the region's support by implementing several development projects.

“When you see or hear me talking the way I am doing, it is because we supported the late Kibaki, and he gave us several road’ projects from the support we had given him. I want to appeal to our president that the support we gave and even introduce you to our people – you must fulfil it. We want you to complete our stalled Bukhungu Stadium, Kakamega Level Six Hospital, and Kakamega Airstrip,” said Khalwale.

Khalwale alleged that the president had betrayed the region that supported and has shifted focus to Nyanza.

“It is a mistake that we were the first to support the president, yet he has bypassed the region over Nyanza, where he has taken a level six hospital to Nyanza and left the Western region lagging in development. We are ahead in support of you and Raila, and the Luhya nation is not an extension of Nyanza. When your friend Raila develops, let the same happen in Western with your friends Mudavadi, Wetangula, and Khalwale.”

This comes two weeks after President Ruto met over 40 elected leaders at State House in Nairobi, where they said the meeting focused on development.