President William Ruto shakes hands with Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang Nyong'o as he laid a foundation stone for the construction of the 2,384-unit Lumumba Estate Affordable Housing Project in Kisumu Central, Kisumu County. [PCS]

My last sojourn this week was in Kisumu City and, you guessed right, I wanted to see for myself how Prezzo Bill Ruto would be received there. For those who may have forgotten, when he last toured the lakeside city during the 2022 campaigns, his motorcade was received by stone “democrats.”

This is an amorphous group comprising generations of men, young and old, who stake out in the streets and claim them as their own. To do any business in the streets, you must know people, if you know what I mean.

Besides witnessing for myself how the street people would receive Prezzo Ruto, I wanted to “hear” what the ground was saying since a loose coalition was forged between Raila Odinga aka Baba’s Orange Democratic Movement and Prezzo Ruto’s UDA.

Part of this stemmed from the dramatic events in Embu, where I heard by rumour that Prezzo Ruto was heckled. These are such strange times, I tell you. In any case, now that I hear that some sophisticated software has been procured for the specific task of smoking out elements perceived as “anti-government,” and targeting them for attack, I was so horrified that I did not check in at the hotel until after darkness.

And when I got inside, I did not venture out for fear that I would find my room bugged, as happened to Riggy G in that very town. Anyway, the only thing I heard on the grapevine and it’s worth sharing here is that Kisumu folks are convinced that Baba will miss out on the AU post and that he’ll be back in the streets, where he belongs, sooner than later.