Ruto set for a two day Bungoma visit

By Peter Ochieng 

President William Ruto is set for a two day visit of Bungoma county.

It will be the first official development visit, since winning the August, 2022 presidential contest.

He will be in the Western region county on 27th and 28th, with inspecting development projects being the key agenda.

Residents of Bungoma overwhelmingly voted for him during last year's polls.

He garnered 229, 409 votes in Bungoma, against Azimio La Umoja One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga's 13, 478.

Compare these figures to 2017, when Odinga got 284, 788 votes, against Uhuru Kenyatta's 128, 475.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula proved the game changer in 2017 and 2022.

Five years ago, he was part of the NASA coalition led by Odinga, while in 2022, he formed an alliance with Ruto under the Kenya Kwanza formation.

Ahead of the president's visit, Bungoma governor Kenneth Lusaka on Tuesday led the county delegation in an inspection tour of various facilities and legacy projects.

The projects are expected to be launched by the Head of State.

The governor assessed the ongoing construction works at the Bungoma maternal and child 300 bed capacity refferal hospital, that is 98 per cent complete.

Construction of the health facility started during the last regime. Wycliffe Wangamati was the governor, while Lusaka was the Senate Speaker.

He also inspected the 32 acre 200 affordable housing unit grounds at Musikoma, the Sang'alo aggregated industrial park and the Misikhu-Brigadier road construction among other initiatives.

Lusaka's next stop was Mt Elgon, where he inspected ongoing projects and the construction works at Chepkurkur Technical Training Institute (TTI) at Kopsiro, that is 80 per cent complete.

He said Ruto's visit comes as a major economic boost.

"We are ready to host the Head of State. It will be a game changer as far as development is concerned. We fully support the bottom up transformational agenda," insisted Lusaka.

He was accompanied by among others, his deputy Pastor Jenipher Mbatiany.

"Ruto is coming to Bungoma and we just came to check on where our visitor will stand, pass or seat when he comes. That is the job that brought us here," said the DG while at Chepkurkur.

Bungoma will be president Ruto's third county to visit in Western region, after Busia and Kakamega.