President Uhuru Kenyatta will tour the Ukambani region later this month to calm the political tension in the Lower Eastern region.
His two-day state visit which is expected to begin on June 28, comes at a time leader from the region have accused Uhuru of doing little to the region despite their full support to the president.
However, the Head of State cautioned the leaders against endless politics at the expense of development saying political bickering and selfish pursuits by leaders were holding the country back.
“Rather than engaging in endless political fights, let’s work together. If we do that, we will be able to become a truly middle-income country by 2030,” he said.
Uhuru was speaking on Monday, June 14, at State House when he hosted a delegation of political leaders from Lower Eastern counties of Kitui, Machakos and Makueni to discuss the region’s development.
The president is expected to inspect ongoing projects and launch new ones in a bid to calm the region which claims it has been forgotten since 2018 when its leaders endorsed the Handshake deal between Uhuru and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
On June 28, Head of State will begin his tour at the Konza Technopolis in Machakos County before proceeding to inspect progress of Thwake Dam project in Makueni and later launch the Kibwezi-Makueni road.
On the final day, Uhuru is expected to open the Kitui textile center and later tour a county owned-stone crusher.
This comes after Kitui governor Charity Ngilu and his Machakos counterpart Alfred Mutua had raised complaints that despite the Kamba community supporting President Uhuru Kenyatta fully, they had nothing to show for it.
“Even in this year’s annual budget, what is in for us? There is nothing we can be proud of but in other regions, we are seeing multi-billion-shilling projects being launched,” Ngilu lamented.
Ngilu’s lamentations come after President Uhuru Kenyatta during his Nyanza tour launched several multi-billion shilling projects, a move that was later criticised by a section of Kenyans prompting ODM leader Raila Odinga to issue a statement to defend Uhuru’s development in his backyard.
