Ruto steps up Ukambani charm offensive ahead of 2027 elections

President William Ruto is expected to intensify his 2027 political campaign as he begins a three-day tour of Ukambani today, with development projects expected to feature prominently in his engagements.

The tour offers the President an opportunity to showcase his administration’s development record while courting local leaders and residents in a region where opposition leader Kalonzo Musyoka enjoys significant support and influence.

Kitui County is among the key destinations, as Ruto seeks to consolidate support in a region where his political influence remains contested.

The President is scheduled to visit Kitui today, Saturday and Monday, with a packed programme featuring road projects, affordable housing, student hostels, markets and other development initiatives.

The visit comes at a time when the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) camp in Kitui is divided between two factions: one associated with Kitui South MP Rachael Nyamai and another aligned with Principal Secretary for Livestock Development Jonathan Mueke.

The divisions present a political test for the ruling party as it seeks to strengthen its grassroots presence in Ukambani ahead of the 2027 General Election.

The region has remained a key political battleground, with Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka enjoying strong support among the Kamba community.

Ruto’s tour is therefore expected to serve both as an opportunity to showcase the government’s development record and as a platform to court voters in a region where his political influence remains contested.

The President’s programme will cover Kitui Rural, Mwingi North, Mwingi Central and Kitui West constituencies, with several infrastructure and social development projects lined up for inspection, launch or commissioning.

On Saturday afternoon, Ruto will tour projects in Yatta/Kwa Vonza Ward, including a Huduma Centre, before proceeding to South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU), where he is expected to launch student hostels and an affordable housing project. He will later address a political rally.

The projects are expected to feature prominently in the government’s development message, particularly road infrastructure and facilities targeting students and young people.

On Monday, the President is scheduled to begin his Kitui engagements in Mwingi North, where he will inspect an affordable housing project in Tseikuru. He will also launch the Twimiwa-Tseikuru-Usueni Road before addressing residents at a public rally.

The programme will then take him to Mwingi Central, where he is expected to inspect ongoing works on the Enziu Bridge and visit the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) market in Mwingi town before meeting women’s groups at Musila Gardens.

The Enziu Bridge inspection will draw attention to infrastructure in an area where residents have faced challenges with river crossings and access during heavy rains. More than 30 Catholic Church members died several years ago after their bus was swept away by the raging waters of River Enziu.

For UDA leaders in Kitui, the tour offers an opportunity to showcase the government’s development footprint while seeking to strengthen the party’s grassroots support.

However, divisions within the ruling party could complicate efforts to present a united front during the visit.

The competing camps associated with Nyamai and Mueke will be under scrutiny as local leaders seek to position themselves within the party’s political structures and influence its strategy in the county.

In Machakos County, Ruto will be hosted by Mwala MP Vincent Kawaya in Mbiuni, where he will commission the Sh1.7 billion Mwala Cluster Water Project, which was initiated in 2024.

The President will also proceed to Masinga Constituency, where he will launch the Kangonde-Masinga-Kithyoko Road.

Other road projects underway in Machakos include Kangundo-Mwala, the completion of the Tala-Donyo Sabuk Road, Miseleni-Kwa Mwaura and the Makaveti-Kyangala-Yiiuni Road in Machakos Town Constituency.

In Makueni, major government projects include affordable housing, modern markets and road construction. The President’s tour will provide an opportunity to assess whether the projects are being implemented within their scheduled timelines.

They include the Wote Affordable Housing Project, valued at Sh2 billion; the stalled civil servants’ housing project, valued at Sh556 million; the Makindu Affordable Housing Project, valued at Sh2.1 billion; and modern markets in Wote and Makindu, valued at Sh347 million and more than Sh119 million, respectively.

Following the completion of various major roads in Mbooni, Ruto is expected to launch the tarmacking of the Wote-Kako-Ngoluni Road. The contract for the project, valued at Sh594 million, has already been awarded to Adawa Construction Ltd.

In Kaiti, construction of the Kyambeke-Kyuasini-Ukia Road is underway. Principal Secretary for Aviation Teresia Mbaika, who hails from the region, said the road would open up rural markets and ease transport from the Mombasa-Nairobi highway through Kaiti to Wote town.

“Surveying, beaconing, grading, and initial groundwork of the project are currently  active on the ground following the arrival of contractors and machinery. The project follows commitments made by President William Ruto of opening up the historically forgotten regions in Ukambani,” the PS confirmed the construction.

The tour comes as construction of the Thwake Multipurpose Dam resumes following the securing of Sh10.6 billion from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

During the bank’s visit last week, AfDB Director for Water and Sanitation Eng. Mtchera Chirwa said the lender was already discussing the downstream investments needed to unlock the project’s full benefits, even as the dam itself reached 94.23 per cent completion.

"As a Bank, we will ensure the project reaches completion and achieves the benefits. This means provision of water for food security; implementation of the irrigation component, water supply and sanitation for residents and hydropower for energy generation," Chirwa told journalists.

The critical downstream works include a water supply system expected to produce 150,000 cubic metres of water to serve Wote and neighbouring areas and towns in Makueni and Kitui, benefiting nearly 1.3 million residents. The system will also supply water to Konza Technopolis.

The programme is expected to generate 20 megawatts of power for the dam’s operations and support irrigation across 40,000 acres of land.

Chirwa, who was accompanied by Water Secretary and Thwake Project Manager Eng. Samuel A.O. Alima, AfDB Regional Manager for Water Security and Sanitation Eng. Mecuria Assefaw, and AfDB officials Eng. Lazarus Phiri and Caroline Ogutu, a water sector engineer, reiterated that water impoundment and filling were expected to begin in early 2027.

The tarmacking of the Emali-Ukia Road, valued at Sh2.1 billion, and the Itangini-Tawa Road, valued at Sh2.4 billion, is also underway.

The President will also visit Kibwezi East, the home turf of Prof. Phillip Kaloki, who is eyeing Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr’s seat in 2027. There, Ruto is expected to launch the tarmacking of the Machinery-Kyumani-Kyanginywa Road, which is intended to connect to the Kibwezi-Kitui Road.

Ruto will also commission Kathekani Secondary School, which was built and relocated by the government through Kenya Railways because of severe noise and disruption from the nearby Standard Gauge Railway.

“This visit presents an opportunity to advance development, attract investment and address the needs of our people, particularly in healthcare, agriculture, roads, water and youth empowerment. I urge leaders and wananchi to turn up in large numbers and give the President a warm reception,” Prof. Kaloki said.

The government is also constructing hostels at Wote Technical Training Institute (WTTI) at a cost of more than Sh143 million and at Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), Makindu, at Sh220 million. A further Sh2.7 billion has been allocated to connect households in the county to electricity.

Beyond the planned project launches, the tour is likely to renew debate over the President’s efforts to expand his political foothold in Ukambani,  a region long associated with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.

Ruto has previously made his intention to draw Ukambani closer to the government clear. During his November 2025 development tour of the region, the President declared his determination to move the region out of the opposition fold. His remarks underscored the growing political contest between the ruling camp and Kalonzo’s opposition bloc.

However, opposition politicians have dismissed the President’s latest tour, terming it “an afterthought” and politically inconsequential.

Former Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka, now a close ally of Kalonzo, said Ruto had given the Ukambani region a ‘raw deal’ compared with other regions, such as Luo Nyanza, which he claimed had received hundreds of billions of shillings in development programmes.

“Ruto has failed to complete the key projects in the region and has instead focused on ‘patch-work’ for quick political benefit. If you look at his itinerary, he is visiting constituencies whose MPs are allied to his UDA party,” Dr Munyaka said, warning that the President’s overtures would not translate into votes from the region in next year’s General Election.