A courtship mission: President returns to an angry but vote rich mountain

President William Ruto addresses residents of Embakasi West after the groundbreaking of the Umoja Sewerage System that will connect more than 50,000 households in Kariobangi, Maili Saba, Umoja, Saika, Tassia and Tena to sewer lines. He said that the government is improving sanitation by providing proper waste management to enhance quality of life and human dignity, especially in urban areas.[PCS]

President William Ruto returns to the Mt Kenya region on a pacification and political courtship mission following a bitter fallout with the populace in recent months. 

He comes at the nadir of his fortunes on an assignment that is billed as inspection of ongoing projects and launching of new ones. However, the president and his team know that he is at once on a political campaign and on a fact finding mission. Can this region stand with him in 2027 as it did before, or should he forget it altogether and move on? He is accused of orchestrating the impeachments of Rigathi Gachagua and now former Meru Governor, Kawira Mwangaza. Can he assuage the region and carry it with him into his future political dreams? These are the big questions taking Ruto to the Mountain. If the Mountain cannot be salvaged, how should he navigate his way to 2027 and beyond? That is the riddle. 

Three years ago, Dr Ruto was the darling of the Mountain. He criss-crossed the landscape, preaching his bottom-up political agenda to swarms of converted crowds that were bursting with love for him. He was the visiting conquering messiah. He had come to rescue them from what he framed as the dynastic rule of the Kenyatta, Moi and Odinga families.