President William Ruto’s five-day development tour of Luo Nyanza has exposed just how desperate his re-election machinery has become, after a video emerged showing thousands of residents being ferried to his meeting in Kisumu County in cattle lorries, packed in like livestock and transported to cheer a president the region has largely rejected.
Ruto is touring Luo Nyanza under the banner of a development launch, but observers have been quick to point out that the real agenda is political: an attempt to create the optics of a beloved national leader who commands support even in opposition heartlands, ahead of a 2027 election in which his chances of retaining power are shrinking by the day.
Cornered by a resurgent united opposition led by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and the growing influence of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, whose Linda Mwananchi movement has been making significant inroads in Luo Nyanza, Ruto and his mobilisers have resorted to one of the oldest and most transparent tricks in the Kenyan political playbook. If people will not come to your rally willingly, hire them and bring them anyway.
On Monday in Kisumu County, that is exactly what happened. Thousands of residents were rounded up, loaded into lorries typically used to transport cattle and driven to the President’s event in a convoy that turned heads and set social media ablaze.
Sources on the ground said attendees were paid between Sh500 and Sh1,000 each to show up, clap on cue and fill the seats that would otherwise have been empty.
The irony of a president who promised to transform Kenya’s economy being celebrated by people who were paid less than the cost of a meal to attend his rally is not lost on Kenyans watching from across the country.
Here is the video of residents being transported to Ruto’s Kisumu meeting in cattle lorries.
https://twitter.com/citynews254/status/2099817407694938511/video/1
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