RUTO LOVE BOMBS UNYIELDING KALONZO

President William Ruto has intensified his efforts to win over Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka by reviving the Tseikuru road project to his doorstep and urging him to repay the political support he claims to have offered him more than three decades ago by backing his 2027 re-election bid.

However, Ruto’s overtures come as Kalonzo maintains his opposition stance, with the Wiper leader meeting former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at his Wamunyoro residence in Nyeri on Monday .

During his development tour of Ukambani on Monday, October 26, Ruto directed a contractor to extend tarmacking on the Twimiwa-Tseikuru-Usweni road by an additional three kilometres to reach Kalonzo’s rural home in Tseikuru, Kitui County.

The directive came as Ruto launched the 55-kilometre road project, valued at Sh5 billion, using the occasion to combine his administration’s development agenda with a direct appeal for political support from the region’s influential opposition leader.

Addressing the contractor, the President said he would not allow residents near Kalonzo’s home to be left out of the infrastructure project.

“Na wewe contractor, huyu contractor ako hapa, nimesema sitaki hii dhuluma. Hii barabara wakati inatengenezwa wewe iko kilomita tatu ya kwenda kwa ndugu yangu Kalonzo. Pia hiyo iwekwe lami mpaka kwake nyumbani,” Ruto said.

He added that Kalonzo and residents of Tseikuru were Kenyans entitled to government services, regardless of their political affiliations.

“Si Kalonzo pia ni Mkenya na mimi ni Rais wa Kenya na natumikia watu wote, na hata watu wa Tseikuru ni Wakenya,” he said.

However, the road directive quickly took on a political dimension, with Ruto asking residents to deliver a message to their neighbour, whom he described as a friend and brother.

“Sikizeni, nataka niwatume. Sawa? Nataka niwatume. Si nyinyi ni majirani ya rafiki yangu ndugu yangu Kalonzo. Si ni majirani wake... Tell Kalonzo it’s time to give back to me,” he told the crowd.

Ruto recalled his involvement in the Youth for KANU '92 (YK92) campaign group, arguing that he had supported Kalonzo during the 1992 multiparty elections when the Wiper leader was seeking parliamentary representation in the then Kitui North constituency.

The President maintained that the political support he offered Kalonzo at the time should count in their current political relationship, making a fresh appeal for the opposition leader to consider supporting his second-term bid.

The latest overture comes amid Ruto’s four-day development tour of Ukambani, which began on Saturday, October 24, with the commissioning of the Sh1.47 billion Mwala Cluster Water Supply Project in Machakos County.

The President has since presided over road launches and other development activities across Machakos, Makueni and Kitui counties, targeting a region where Kalonzo commands considerable political influence.

On Saturday, Ruto also responded to Kalonzo’s remarks crediting God for the government’s renewed focus on infrastructure development in Ukambani.

Kalonzo had suggested that the President’s push to complete the Tseikuru road was divinely inspired, saying the work should have progressed further and reached Maua by now.

“Ruto, because he fears us, is working hard to complete the road to Tseikuru, and I’m telling him to work even harder. By now, that road should have reached Maua. God is using Ruto in a very special way. That hard work isn’t really his; it is God’s,” Kalonzo said.

Ruto seized on the remarks to portray the opposition leader as someone willing to acknowledge development where it had taken place.

“Namshukuru Kalonzo kwa kusema kwamba Mungu ananitumia,” the President said, adding that while God was using him to build roads, provide water and improve healthcare, Kalonzo was helping publicise the government’s work.

“Mungu ananitumia kujenga barabara, Mungu ananitumia kuleta maji, Mungu ananitumia kuboresha huduma za matibabu. Na yeye Mungu anamtumia Kalonzo kunisaidia kutangaza,” he added.

The history of the Tseikuru road project had previously sparked political disputes, with Kalonzo saying he launched it in 2011 while serving as Vice President under former President Mwai Kibaki.

Kalonzo had alleged that the project, which was financed through the Export-Import Bank of China, stalled after the Jubilee administration took office in 2013, accusing Ruto of playing a role in its suspension. The claims have remained part of the wider political dispute surrounding the road.

The project has since become a point of contention, with Ruto questioning Kalonzo’s development record after decades in public office, while the Wiper leader challange the government to complete the infrastructure.

Despite Ruto’s latest appeal, Kalonzo has consistently maintained that he intends to challenge the President in the 2027 General Election rather than join his political camp.

On Monday, Kalonzo reinforced that position by meeting former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at his Wamunyoro residence in Nyeri County, as opposition leaders continued consultations on a possible joint presidential candidate for the next election.

The meeting came six days after Gachagua hosted Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and leaders associated with the Linda Mwananchi movement on October 20, fuelling speculation about competing presidential ambitions within the opposition.

Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) has publicly identified Sifuna as its preferred presidential candidate and has been seeking support from other opposition figures, including Kalonzo.

On Sunday, DCP Deputy Party Leader Cleophas Malala said the party intended to persuade Kalonzo to back Sifuna’s bid. Wiper, however, rejected the suggestion that its meeting with Gachagua was intended to secure Kalonzo’s endorsement of the Nairobi senator.

Through party spokesperson Ndegwa Njiru, Wiper criticised Malala’s remarks, arguing that such statements risked deepening divisions within the opposition at a time when its leaders were exploring ways to work together.

Ruto’s latest appeal comes amid previous reports that he had sought to bring Kalonzo into his administration, including claims of an offer for the Attorney General position, which the Wiper leader dismissed.
“Nobody has offered me any position... I have served as the Vice President of this country; you do not expect me to serve Ruto as the Attorney General,” Kalonzo said, maintaining that he would only consider engaging the President after the 2027 General Election.