President William Ruto on Wednesday said that he is ready to work with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka in government.

Ruto said that after the 2022 elections, he reached out to Kalonzo to form a working coalition.

“The first person I reached out to come and work with me even before going for ODM party leader Raila Odinga was Kalonzo. But he took me in circles,” Ruto said at State House, during a meeting with a section of Ukambani leaders.

Ruto said that he is still ready to work with Kalonzo in a joint framework of cooperation to confront the socio-economic and political challenges facing the Ukambani region.

He urged Kalonzo to soften his stance. “Nobody goes to an election to lose. When one loses it is by accident. Then you can’t stay away from the government waiting to run in the next election,” Ruto said.

Ruto said that the politics of hardball has no space in contemporary Kenya. “You can’t pretend to be more opposition than Raila Odinga whom we competed with at the ballot but now we are working together,” he said.

He added: “We can’t have leaders who are opposing every government initiative. They are saying no to Social Health Authority, and affordable housing even when they had the same in their manifesto in Azimio, Jubilee and NASA. Does it mean they were joking with Kenyans when they had put affordable housing in their manifestos?” the president said.

Ruto’s statement come as his plans to tour the Ukambani region came under sharp scrutiny from leaders in the region.

On Wednesday, Ruto hosted a meeting of leaders and professionals at State House, Nairobi and vowed to upset the Wiper party’s hold in the region with a vote basket of about 1.4 million.

The meeting, which was scheduled to discuss Ruto’s development priorities ahead of his scheduled tour of the region next month was boycotted by some key elected Wiper leaders.

The three Ukambani governors and senators as well as majority Wiper MPs did not attend the State House meeting.

President Ruto who addressed the gathering said that he reached out to the region’s elected leaders for the consultative meeting.

He however maintained that the leader’s refusal to show up will not dampen his passion to continue implementing development projects in Ukambani.

“I am the one who reached out to these leaders to attend this consultative meeting. I wanted all leaders to come, we think together because it is not a political meeting but a development meeting. I will not allow Ukambani to be left behind,” said Ruto.

The head of state then hit out at the Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka for what he termed as having failed the Kamba nation by pulling them away from the government.

Ruto said that he would directly work with the people, saying that he did not need any permission to reach the people whose share of votes brought a difference to his win in the 2022 presidential election. 

The Head of State then doled out a promise of projects running into billions of shillings which he said will be implemented in the region.  

He mentioned carpeting of key roads such as the Email–Ukia Road (Makueni), Chyuluni–Zombie Road (Kitui), Kangundo–Mwala Road (Machakos), Kivandini–Miseleni Road (Machakos), Ikutha–Mutha–Mutomo Road (Kitui) and Kwa Siku–Mbondoni Road, as well as Kamuwongo–Kandwia Road (both in Kitui).

Ruto further promised additional investments in water supply, electrification, affordable housing, and modern markets, among others.

However, the Wiper leadership which was critical of the State House visit termed the event as politics of tokenism which has no place in modern Kenya.

Kitui senator Enoch Wambua criticized how leaders were invited to State House and expressed concerns over the lack of consultation with Wiper party leadership.

Wambua noted that Wiper, which is the dominant party in Ukambani has a chain of command and cannot be invited to State House through the UDA Secretary General Vincent Munsyoka who should.

He said that such an approach was disrespectful and undermined the party structure, adding that the Wiper leaders felt belittled by the manner in which the invitation was done and opted to keep away.

While pouring scorn on the meeting, the senator noted that the only proper way to bring development to Ukambani, and indeed other parts of the county, is by ensuring that funds are allocated to them when national budgets are being prepared.

“That is the only sure way to ensure development reaches every part of the country. This idea of calling leaders to the statehouse to discuss development is an indication of desperation and panic mode on the part of the president,” Wambua said.

He claimed that the president had sidelined the Ukambani region in his two and half years and was out to hoodwink gullible leaders with photo sessions to portray that the region has shifted its allegiance to him.

At Kitui County Assembly, there was a strong push for Wiper party members not to attend the State House meeting, a day after the party leader Kalonzo Musyoka prevailed on the elected and nominated leaders from his party to give the meeting a wide berth.

On Tuesday evening, deputy majority whip Cyrus Musyoka who is also the Ikanga/ Kyatune MCA made a passionate appeal to the Wiper MCAs not to attend the meeting.

“Good evening honourable colleagues, kindly stand guided that none of our members is supposed/expected to attend the meeting at Statehouse tomorrow. Let us protect the image of our party and our party leader,” the message shared with the Wiper MCAs and seen by The Standard reads.

However, a number of the Wiper MCAs including nominated ones defied the directive and accompanied the Assembly Speaker Kinengo Katisya to the State House.

Among those who went were Tharaka Ward Rep Muthengi Ndagara, his Mwingi Central counterpart Bernard Sila and Maluki Mawia (Migwani) who claimed that the visit was development-oriented and not a political gathering.

Other Wiper supporters opposed to the State House dismissed the attendees as betrayers of the community who should be disciplined by the Wiper party and the voters at the ballot.

Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi dismissed the State House meeting as a waste of time.

“Development is not found in the State House. Development is a function of Parliament and the National Treasury. There is nowhere State House should come in and those who went there are political brokers,” Mwangangi charged.

His sentiments were echoed by Campbell Munyambu, the coordinator of coordinator of Mwingi professionals forum and business community who said that the State House attendees were betrayers of the community, advancing selfish politics.

“They went to auction the community at Statehouse for a pittance. The unity of the community is very expensive but they have opted to betray it. They have lost our trust,” said Munyambu who is also a close Kalonzo ally.

Munyambu observed that the Kamba community should remain united, speak with one voice and rally behind the Wiper leader in his bid to wrestle the presidency from President Ruto in 2027.

“We can achieve whatever it is they went to State House for and much more when Kalonzo becomes the president. That should be our focus. Ruto is only giving lip service,” he said.

On his part, KIbwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse hailed the meeting as successful saying that the Kamba community cannot afford to stay out of government any longer.

“I am greatly encouraged by the President’s bold and inclusive development agenda for our region. This is the kind of meaningful action that uplifts communities and creates real, lasting change. When the time for politics comes, the people of Ukambani will have a clear choice between tangible development and empty rhetoric from our detractors,” the legislator said.

Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka who had been tasked to invite the region’s leaders regretted the cold reception accorded him by some Wiper leaders.

“I invited all of them but they said I was a small man and needed the president to invite them in writing,” he said. CS Alfred Mutua also lamented that his invites to a section of leaders were also rebuffed.

Report by Stephen Nzioka, Erastus Mulwa, Philip Muasya