Tuju vows to win support for government in ODM strongholds

Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju has vowed to “change the perception” of Nyanza residents so that they can accept the Government ahead of the General Elections.

Tuju said he had noticed that most Nyanza residents are averse to change and have negative opinion about the ruling elites and JP will change its approach to reach them.

He visited Kisumu on Thursday in what he termed a fact-finding mission and “testing political waters”.

He was with Joe Mucheru (ICT) and Hassan Wario, Cabinet Secretaries for ICT and Sports, respectively, and Youth Affairs Principal Secretary Lilian Omolo.

The officials announced a Government plan to employ youths to remove water hyacinth from Lake Victoria.

Tuju said he will only engage in issue-based politics to transform the lives of the people.

“We will rise above interests and work closely with the county authorities to initiate and implement development projects. I will not engage in politics of witch-hunting. I will bring Cabinet Secretaries here to see the problems facing the people and come up with remedies,” he said.

The JP head of secretariat appealed to Nyanza resiedents to support the Government if they wanted to reap its development fruits.

He declined to reveal plans they will use to sell President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nyanza.

However, sources told The Standard on Sunday that Jubilee is planning to start campaigns in the region and Mr Tuju wants to know how voters will react to the campaigns.

The sources said the team prefers to work with established groups, instead of addressing political rallies in the town. The team wants to meet selected delegates and various women and youth groups to urge them to vote for President Kenyatta.

Tuju said they will respect the wishes and aspirations of the people and called for sober and tolerant politics. “We need to compete on ideas,” he said.

Last month, Tuju said Jubilee would not skip any region and had big plans for Nyanza.

Tuju is now Jubilee point man in Nyanza after former TNA Secretary General Onyango Oloo defected to ODM.