President Kenyatta campaigned in Murang’a and Nyeri on Tuesday/PSCU
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 25 – President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto have embarked on an intensive twelve-day campaign blitz that will see them traverse over 30 counties before holding a final rally in Nairobi on August 6.
In day one of the countrywide visits on Tuesday, Kenyatta will make stops in Muranga, Nyeri and Nakuru as Ruto combs through Baringo, Vihiga and Nandi.
The Head of State is also set give 40 radio interviews in what State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu said is his commitment to engage Kenyans on his action plan.
“This will be the second round of an all-counties campaign where the President will take his message to Kenyans. Only this Sunday he completed a 14-counties blitz covered in seven days in which he put his call for unity and peace at the heart of his campaign agenda,” Esipisu said in a statement on Tuesday, a day after President Kenyatta skipped a televised parle with his political nemesis Raila Odinga.
According to the presidency, Kenyatta who has promised 6.5 million jobs if re-elected on August 8 will take time to engage citizens in various parts of the country on his delivery record in the past four and a half years.
“During the campaign tours, the President will also sit down with Kenyans at business premises, farms, markets and other places where he will engage with them directly, accounting for his last four-and-a-half years in office as he also discusses how he plans to transform the country and the lives of Kenyans,” Esipisu stated.
While campaigning in Vihiga, Deputy President William Ruto dismissed claims by the National Super Alliance that the military is conspiring to rig elections.
Ruto said the will of the people will prevail on August 8, urging the Opposition to stop derailing the process by mounting unnecessary court cases.
“These fellows are all over the court, they are now telling us that the military and the police are interfering. My fellow Kenyans and citizens here in Vihiga, do security officers vote? The people who will determine who will lead this county are the citizens. The work of security agencies is to safeguard peace,” he said.
Ruto who is also set to visit Baringo and Nandi counties in his last two hundred rallies said the opposition was suffering from an election fever, exuding confidence in securing a victory come August 8.
“You see when people see things are going haywire they start panicking. I know you people in Vihiga circumcise people like we do in Nandi. It is only the fearful who panic when the circumcision knife is brought,” he told supporters who turned up for the rally on Tuesday.
Other than offering free post-natal medical services to women, the Jubilee administration prides itself in expanding and modernising the National Police Service – 10,000 officers being hired annually since President Kenyatta ascended to power.
The service has also received equipment ranging from helicopters, Armored Personnel Carriers and patrol vehicles to improve police mobility.
Kenyatta also boasts of delivering phase one of the Standard Gauge Railway from Mombasa to Nairobi which became operational on May 31, the President and his deputy taking the first inaugural ride from the coastal city to Nairobi.
The Jubilee government has also cited gains made in foreign relations over the past four years as one of its major milestones, Kenya hosting the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2015 and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 2016.
Kenya has also hosted a number of foreign leaders including Pope Francis, President Barack Obama of the United States, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi (India) and Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, among others.
Among counties President Kenyatta will visit in his 200 campaign rallies are Marsabit, Samburu, Bungoma, Kakamega, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Embu, Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Kajiado, Nakuru, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Nairobi, Bomet, Kericho, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Kitui, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kisii, Nyamira, Nandi, Garissa, Migori and Uasin Gishu.
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