Kenyans expressed mixed reactions after President Ruto was given a rousing welcome in Siaya County that culminated in him being made a Luo elder in a region that gave him just a handful of votes.
Even his deputy Rigathi Gachagua was surprised at the extremely warm reception that they received saying President Ruto would reciprocate the good gesture by appointing people from the region to his government.
President Ruto was adorned in traditional garb by elders who performed traditional rites before they coronated him as Luo elder.
Earlier he had made fun of the extremely few votes that he received in the entire Luo Nyanza region saying while Rift Valley gave Raila Odinga 28% of the votes and Mt Kenya gave him 25%, the Luo community only gave him 1% of the votes.
Nevertheless, he decided to start his major development tour in the region where he met with leaders from the region and agreed on a host of projects that his government that will prioritize.
The highly hyped development tour came as a surprise to Mt Kenya region where critics said their region was only getting prayers and inter-denominational thanksgiving ceremonies instead of development activities.
A recent announcement by DP Gachagua that he is planning a major thanksgiving ceremony at State Lodge Sagana preceded by a President Ruto victory caravan that will start its journey from Githurai and snake its way through various towns of Central Kenya has not helped matter either.
Gachagua said during that event Mt Kenya will receive President Ruto like a king and install him as such and thereafter hold a meeting with leaders from the region to discuss the issues they want his government to tackle.
Gachagua made the announcement last weekend in Nanyuki town during a thanksgiving prayer ceremony at the Nanyuki stadium attended by President Ruto.
The prayer session was organized on the sidelines of a four-day retreat of Ruto’s executive arm of government at the Mt Kenya Safari Club
