MPs: We snubbed Ruto's invite ahead of today's Western tour

Anxiety clouds President William Ruto's tour of Bungoma today, which has divided Kenya Kwanza MPs in the region.

A section of the MPs want the visit postponed, saying there is little to show for his frequent forays in Western. Others feel the visit is good for farmers.

Kabuchai MP Majimbo Kalasinga (Ford Kenya), yesterday said the President's visit was premature and ill-intentioned and should only take place after the thorny issue of the planned leasing of the Nzoia Sugar Company was convincingly addressed.

"We have been invited to State House today (yesterday) ahead of the visit but I have led all the Bungoma MPs in snubbing the meeting because it is a mockery. The invite comes after the advert of leasing of Nzoia Sugar hit the headlines," he said.

"When we held the coalition's economic forum in Matisi Bungoma during the 2022 campaigns, the President promised to fit Nzoia with a new milling machine in his first 100 days in office but he now wants to lease it and wants us to accompany him to the mill a day after 70 bidders toured the factory in readiness for leasing. That's simply wrong."

Kalasinga said the President's act amounted to betrayal and they would not allow the "greatest asset" of Bungoma to be leased for at least 30 years.

He said the leaders risk losing their seats in the next elections if they backed the President.

The second-term MP representing National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula's home constituency said they had expressed their intention to snub the President's tour so the Speaker would be aware.

"We shared the sentiments with him (Wetang'ula) because he is also a son of the soil. I know he is also not willing to see one lease the mill and it's 24,000 acres, 15,000 of which was donated by our people," he said.

Ford Kenya' Webuye East legislator Martin Pepela said it would make more sense if Ruto made such a tour after fulfilling the promises he made.

"The people voted for the Kenya Kwanza administration based on our plan and the development agenda we shared with them on the campaign trail, but one year down the line there is no clear and deliberate intention of fulfilling these promises," he said.

"We promised to complete a number of stalled road projects, including the Misikhu-Naitiri Road and many others.

"The process of leasing Nzoia is not open and transparent, and it's our considered opinion that it's not being done in good faith," the lawmaker added.

He clarified that they were fully in support of the Head of State and wanted to see him succeed. "That's why we are humbly asking him to postpone this trip to allow for further consultation."

Bumula MP Jack Wamboka DAP-K said the tour was against the will of the people of Bungoma, coming after the plan to lease Nzoia Sugar, adding that the visit was meant to "blackmail them into accepting the shadowy deal."

"Elected leaders from Bungoma have today (Wednesday) been invited to the State Houses ahead of the tour, I included, but I declined the invite because I gathered it was going to have an agenda of leading on leasing out Nzoia sugar," he said.

"I will nonetheless be at Nzoia tomorrow (today) to tell the President what the people on the ground are saying. That we are against the leasing of the factory. If he doesn't want to revive it without the lease then I think there will come another President who will revive it."