William Ruto develops six-month grassroots campaign plan

While the DP has been holding forums with select individuals in the seven clusters UDA has divided the country, his strategists now want this cascaded to the smallest level of political administration, the 1,450 wards, after which a county cluster is formed before being amalgamated into one document at the national level.

The clusters are Mt Kenya, Coast, Nairobi, Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western and North Eastern. The DP has since met representatives from Coast, Mt Kenya, Eastern, Nyanza and Western with those from the Rift Valley, North Eastern, and Nairobi expected to finish up on their documents.

These economic charters negotiated with the regions will culminate in the launch of UDA’s national manifesto in June next year centred on five pillars; job creation, empowering micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), cheap credit, agriculture revival and improvement of social welfare.

“What has been going on is drafting and reviewing economic blueprints proposals that infuse the architecture of region’s pro-poor policies that are expected to lead to building of an inclusive nation devoid of ethnic division and dynastical dominance in our politics,” a bottom-up policy paper by the DP’s campaign team reads in part.

Reclaim Kenya

The team is also reviewing frameworks of regional economic blueprints that will open up for further consultations by citizens and adopted later as part of the hustler nation’s manifesto in its bid to reclaim Kenya.

Between January and March next year, the economic forums will be taking place in wards before being up-scaled to the counties.

Between April and June next year, the deputy president will be receiving those requests before launching his presidential manifesto.

“This is part of the ongoing bottom-up economic discourse that puts issues of ordinary people: mama mboga, boda boda operators, farmers, traders, pastoralists and fishermen at the centre of our political conversation. This is a new paradigm premised on freeing our country from ethnic politics and conversations that are only centred on leaders. We have a new engagement of people centred issues with tangible life changing results,” said Eliud Owalo, UDA deputy secretary general in-charge of strategy.

UDA chairman Johnson Muthama yesterday confirmed to the Nation that the validation of the region's economic demands will be closed on June 30, 2022.

“All these regions will meet the DP. No one will be left out. We have now until June 30, 2022. Those who have met him are currently on the ground meeting people going through the document before fine-tuning it and making final presentation to the DP,” said Mr Muthama while disclosing that so far, Machakos and Makueni counties have started the public forums.

The former Machakos senator said they are changing the political landscape of the country and this is aimed at giving them an advantage over their rivals.

“What we have decided to do this time around is to accurately identify the problems from each region. By the time we get to form the government, we know what each region needs. The government should not launch projects which have never been chosen by the people themselves,” said Mr Muthama.

Dr Ruto said recently that his agenda is aimed at re-engineering the economy with everyone brought on board and lowering the poverty situation.

Create more jobs

“Through the ongoing consultations covering all regions and all sectors of the economy, we anticipate the generation of more jobs and expanded opportunities for those in the lower cadre,” said DP Ruto.

Dr Ruto, a wealthy man by any standard, has fashioned himself as a “hustler” to endear himself to the voters in the low cadres of the economy.

Each region has been lining up their professionals to help them fine-tune their economic blueprints before joining the negotiation table with the DP.

Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali yesterday told the Nation that after meeting the DP in May to present their economic requests compiled by their professionals, currently they are constituting the economic blueprint committees in ward level upwards to county to interrogate Western region’s economic demands.

 “We had a meeting at DP’s place in late May and we agreed to split ourselves into county committees so that we can have county positions, hence the global map of addressing issues affecting Western. We do not want to go into this election without an agenda. Even in his manifesto, he must include them,” said Mr Washiali.

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