Why Ruto Has Pitched Camp in Western Kenya

Kenya, 2 November 2025 - The government is undertaking projects worth over KSh 21 billion in Kakamega County in a bid to transform the county's fortunes, President William Ruto has announced.

Among these investments is KSh 14 billion towards affordable housing in the county, KSh 2.5 billion to build modern markets and KSh 2 billion for students' hostels.

The President said Western Kenya has long lagged behind in national development, hence the need for affirmative action to bring it on a par with other parts of the country.

"We want to make sure that Western Kenya is as good as any other part of the Republic of Kenya," he said on Saturday at State Lodge Kakamega.

He made the remarks when he hosted grassroots leaders from the county for a breakfast meeting, where he briefed them on the development projects the government is implementing in the county and nationally.

Present were Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang'ula, Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, Cooperatives and MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya, Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, Principal Secretaries, MPs, and MCAs, among other leaders.

President Ruto announced that the government will establish a gold refinery in the county worth KSh 1.5 billion in readiness for a private investor who is prepared to invest over $1 billion in gold mining in the county.

He urged leaders to embrace local and foreign investors seeking business opportunities in their regions, rather than antagonising them.

"I will continue encouraging investors to come to Kakamega. Be ambassadors of your county and the country," he said.

The President assured the leaders that the government will ensure residents are not taken advantage of by any investor.

He also said the government would upgrade Kakamega Airport at a cost of KSh 400 million, extending the runway from the current 900 metres to 1.2 km, and widening it to accommodate larger aircraft.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the government will complete Bukhungu Stadium at a cost of KSh 1.4 billion, and the Kakamega County Teaching and Referral Hospital at KSh 1 billion.

The President explained that when he took office in 2022, he had to first steady the country's sinking economic ship by making difficult decisions "to save ourselves from debt default which would have damaged our economy".

He said agricultural reforms that have been implemented in the past three years have resulted in increased production and better prices for farmers.

In the sugar sector, he noted that investments worth KSh 4.7 billion have been made to revive the sector over the past three years.

This has resulted in increased sugar production, ensuring that the government's sugar import bill reduced by 70 percent.

"Farmers and employees are being paid on time in our sugar factories, and the factories are contributing to the economy by paying taxes," he said.

He added, "By 2027, we will not be importing sugar into the country. By 2029, Kenya will be a net exporter of sugar."

Due to the good performance in the sector, he said, the government has issued licences for four new sugar factories.

Similarly, he said reforms in the education sector have rescued public universities from financial ruin and brought clarity in the Competence-Based Education and Training system.

On universal healthcare, President Ruto said the reforms have brought equity and fairness, with Kenyans now contributing to the Social Health Authority (SHA) according to their incomes and ability to pay.

Since October 2024 when the SHA was implemented, the head of state noted that the government has paid KSh 3 billion to government, private and faith-based hospitals in the country up from an average of KSh 700 million they used to receive annually.

In Kakamega County, 876,000 people have registered with SHA, placing it at number 19 out of 47 counties.

He urged residents to continue registering under the scheme to access free healthcare services, and to enable the government to plan better for better health provision.

"I am committed to ensuring that SHA works because there is no other way to achieve equity in the delivery of quality healthcare to our people," he said.

The President said the government is constantly improving SHA to make it more efficient, weeding out criminal elements taking advantage of loopholes in the system to swindle the public.

He commended Kakamega County residents for embracing the government's labour mobility programme, which has connected more than 400,000 Kenyans with job opportunities abroad.

Later, the President broke ground for the construction of students' hostels at Ebukanga Technical and Vocational College in Emuhaya, Vihiga County.

At Shiveye, Ikolomani Constituency, he launched the construction of the 33 km Shamakhokho Kaimosi-Mpaka-Mululu-Museno-Malinya Road which connects Kakamega and Vihiga counties.

President Ruto emphasised that Kenya can only become a first-world nation with leaders who make bold, but difficult decisions that will take the country forward.

"We all agree as leaders on what we must do to take Kenya forward. I will see through the reforms that we need to take us there," he said.