President Uhuru, DP Ruto to launch projects, campaign in North Eastern

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy President William Ruto have begun a three-day state visit of North Eastern region.

The President and his deputy will visit the counties of Mandera, Wajir and Garissa beginning Thursday with the inspection of different construction works, commissioning of roads and inspection of different ongoing projects in the region.

While the trip will focus more on development projects, the President is also set to use the opportunity to drum up support for his re-election bid ahead of the 2017 polls.

The three counties posted mixed results in the 2013 elections with Uhuru getting overwhelming support only in Mandera County where he garnered 94,433 votes against Raila Odinga’s 4,366 votes.

URP, an affiliate of Jubilee Coalition, also took the Governor position (Ali Roba), Senate seat (Billow Kerrow), and Women Representative position (Ubah Abdi Gedi). All the six Parliamentary seats also went to URP.

In Garissa, Odinga had a slight win garnering 44,724 votes against Uhuru’s 41,672. Odinga’s party ODM, an affiliate of opposition coalition CORD got three Parliamentary seats same as Jubilee.

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama is from Wiper (CORD), the Senator Yusuf Hajji is from TNA (Jubilee) while the Women Representative Shukran Hussein Gure is from Wiper (CORD).

In Wajir, ODM got five Parliamentary seats while URP has one; Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi, Senator Abdirahman Hassan while women representative Fatuma Gedi all from ODM.

During his visit, the Head of State will commission the construction of Elwak-Wargurur Road and break ground for the construction of the Wargudud Airport and the Rhamu-Mandera road in Mandera North.

On Friday, the President will be in Wajir County where he will commission the Wajir Kenya Medical Training College in the town, the local Huduma Centre in Wajir East and the upgrading of Wajir Hospital to Level 5 status.

The President will later launch two key education programmes; Digital Literacy Programme and Water for Schools Project at El Adow Primary in Wajir Town.

In Garissa on Saturday, the Head of State will launch the construction of the Nuno-Modogashe Road in Garissa Town/Barab Ara in Lagdera before commissioning the building of Modika-Nuno Road at Fafi/Daadab/Bar Abara.

President Kenyatta and his deputy are also set to commission the construction of Sankuri-Garissa Ndogo-Ngamia Road and inspection of the progress at Masalani Water Project, and inspect the construction works of the new hostel at Garissa University.

The tour of North Eastern is among the series of state tours that the Head of State and DP Rut have lined up, having previously visited Mombasa, Kilifi, Lamu, Kiambu, Kakamega, Bungoma, Nyandarua and Nyahururu counties.

@benjaminwafula