President William Ruto on Sunday, July 28, 2024, attended a church service at the ACK St Peters Ngambwa in Taita Taveta county.
On his third day of the coastal development tour, Ruto arrived in Taita Taveta after spending two days in the North and South coastal counties of Kilifi and Kwale respectively.
Ruto is expected to launch and commission development projects in Taita Taveta after the church service.
On Saturday, July 27, 2024, Ruto was received in Mombasa County by huge crowds of residents after he nominated former governor Hassan Joho to be considered for the position of Cabinet Secretary Mining and the Blue Economy.
Coastal leaders embraced the move, stating that the president had made the right choice by embarking on a path to national healing and inclusivity.
Also among the nominees in Ruto’s proposed broad-based government is former Kwale governor Salim Mvurya who was nominated to the Trade and Industries docket.
Ruto was accompanied by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi and Kwale county governor Fatuma Achani, among other local leaders.
Ruto’s development goodies
In Kilifi County, Ruto commissioned the construction of a modern market in Watamu, promising to construct similar ones in Kaloleni, Kilifi South, Kilifi North and Ganze.
Also, the h**d of state commissioned a water reservoir set to serve the Malindi, Kilifi and Gongoni areas.
In Kwale, the h**d of state launched the construction of 200 affordable housing units, promising to set up more than 6,000 units.
Additionally, the president promised to revive cotton farming on the coast. He said he had budgeted a total of Ksh200 million before slashing it to Ksh200 million after the controversial Finance Bill 2024 was dropped.
The president’s decision to co-opt members of the opposition to his cabinet came after weeks of nationwide protests staged by the youth, calling for good governance, accountability and an end to corruption.
On July 11, 2024, Ruto dissolved his cabinet, sending most of his loyalists home in an unprecedented move.
He would, however, retain a majority of his fired cabinet secretaries, opting to reassign them to different dockets.
A section of the Kenyan youth has vowed to go back to the streets to protest against the retention of the fired cabinet secretaries.
However, the opposition party ODM received a total of four nominees in various dockets in the proposed broad-based government of national unity.
The move to pick ODM party officials to join the government has caused rifts in the opposition coalition party Azimio la Umoja, with Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua writing officially to exit the outfit.
