Kisumu receives Prezzo Ruto with jubilation, can't wait to receive Baba back in the streets
Opinion
By
Peter Kimani
| Nov 28, 2024
My last sojourn this week was in Kisumu City and, you guessed right, I wanted to see for myself how Prezzo Bill Ruto would be received there. For those who may have forgotten, when he last toured the lakeside city during the 2022 campaigns, his motorcade was received by stone “democrats.”
This is an amorphous group comprising generations of men, young and old, who stake out in the streets and claim them as their own. To do any business in the streets, you must know people, if you know what I mean.
Besides witnessing for myself how the street people would receive Prezzo Ruto, I wanted to “hear” what the ground was saying since a loose coalition was forged between Raila Odinga aka Baba’s Orange Democratic Movement and Prezzo Ruto’s UDA.
Part of this stemmed from the dramatic events in Embu, where I heard by rumour that Prezzo Ruto was heckled. These are such strange times, I tell you. In any case, now that I hear that some sophisticated software has been procured for the specific task of smoking out elements perceived as “anti-government,” and targeting them for attack, I was so horrified that I did not check in at the hotel until after darkness.
And when I got inside, I did not venture out for fear that I would find my room bugged, as happened to Riggy G in that very town. Anyway, the only thing I heard on the grapevine and it’s worth sharing here is that Kisumu folks are convinced that Baba will miss out on the AU post and that he’ll be back in the streets, where he belongs, sooner than later.
READ MORE
Women take lead in race for Sh278b insurance business
How HR can support change in the digital age
Partnerships are key to addressing digital inclusion gaps
M-Pesa Foundation invests Sh35m to upgrade school infrastructure
Cane farmers want Mumias Sugar receiver manager investigated
Why institutionalisation of school feeding is a public imperative
'You will never walk alone', China assures Kenya, Africa
Millers reject claims of sidelining local wheat farmers