Register and turn me into your 'donkey', Ruto tells Kericho voters
Politics
By
Nikko Tanui
| Sep 12, 2026
President William Ruto on Friday turned the third day of his development tour of Kericho County into an early 2027 election campaign, imploring hundreds of thousands of unregistered voters to acquire identity and voter cards and help hand him a second term in office.
In an unusually blunt appeal delivered partly in the local Kalenjin language, Ruto told residents that promises of support would count for nothing unless they were converted into votes at the ballot box.
Speaking at Kapsoit after commissioning the Kapsoit-Borborwet Road, the President said the one day Kenyans would spend casting their ballots in the 2027 General Election would give Kericho residents an opportunity to turn him into their “donkey” for another five years to carry their development agenda.
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“I ask all eligible members of the Kalenjin community to acquire identity cards and voter cards. UDA got about half a million votes in Kericho in the last election, yet there are another 500,000 eligible but unregistered voters in Kericho. I ask them to acquire IDs and voter cards,” said Ruto.
The President said declarations of support and chants at political rallies would not help him secure a second term unless eligible voters registered and turned up to vote.
“The electorate only goes to the ballot once every five years. That one-day exercise should not be difficult because it will present an opportunity for the residents to turn me into their donkey, which will deliver development projects for the next five years,” he said.
The appeal marked one of Ruto's most direct efforts yet to rally his political backyard behind his 2027 re-election bid, as he sought to convert his development tour into a voter registration drive ahead of the next General Election.
Ruto said that although his administration had rolled out development projects across the country, his political homeland — particularly Kericho and neighbouring Bomet counties — would continue receiving additional attention.
“I have delivered development projects across the country but, of course, my homeland will get an additional course meal,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Belgut MP Nelson Koech, who joined the President at the event, took the voter mobilisation campaign a notch higher, warning that eligible voters should not stay away from the ballot.
“We will ensure that everyone casts their vote, including the sick — although we pray that nobody will be sick on that day. Eligible voters who fail to cast their votes risk being canned,” said Koech.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, meanwhile, dismissed the opposition's chances of unseating Ruto in 2027, arguing that the President's rivals lacked both the ideas and political energy to mount a serious challenge.
“They play in a lower league. I can beat them,” said Cheruiyot.
Kericho Governor Erick Mutai also used the gathering to launch a political attack on Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, accusing him of attempting to raise campaign funds from Kenyans while allegedly using his position in the Senate to blackmail governors.
Mutai took issue with Sifuna's presidential ambitions under the Linda Mwananchi movement, accusing the senator of seeking financial contributions from ordinary Kenyans while continuing to take on county bosses at the Senate