President William Ruto for the first time since beginning his term as the country’s fifth today embarked on an extensive tour of the vast Mt Kenya region.

Despite Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s support for ex-prime minister Raila Odinga, the populous and strategic region was critical in Ruto’s presidential victory.

Aside from the numerous development projects that the president plans to commission and launch during his five-day tour, his trip is rich in political symbolism.

Ruto will visit the strategically located Sagana State Lodge for the first time, a venue that was crucial in Uhuru’s political schemes against him ahead of the 2022 general elections.

Ruto will hold a massive prayer and thanksgiving service at Sagan State Lodge on Sunday in an attempt to exorcise Uhuru’s past.

It was at this venue that Uhuru on February 23, 2022, that Uhuru officially endorsed Raila after hosting at least three meetings at the Sagana State Lodge.

In this Sagana three Uhuru said ‘Raila tosha”.”I’m asking you to support Raila Odinga as he means well for the Country. When “my young man reforms”, we will consider him,” Uhuru said as he appealed to his backyard to back Raila.

At the Sagana III meeting, Uhuru was bold in saying that Raila was the best fit not only for the Mt Kenya region but Kenya at large.

He later convened another final fourth meeting in July 2022 in which he put a strong case on why the region needed to vote for Raila and not Ruto.

Uhuru’s high-profile strategy meetings against Ruto’s presidential bid before the August 9, 2022, general elections, however, hit a cropper after he failed to rally the region behind Raila.

And on Sunday, as Ruto will be storming Mt Kenya to stamp his authority as head of state, the clergy will hold special prayers to cleanse the State Lodge and exorcise it of Uhuru’s ghosts.

The President will be storming the strategically located Sagana State Lodge at a time when he has sanctioned talks with the opposition despite his initial tough stance against dialogue.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja keeps his promise to protect public land real after ordering the demolition of a high-rise apartment building allegedly built on a grabbed land in Eastleigh. 

On Friday, August 4, demolishers demolished the building, which was allegedly built by an unscrupulous businessman and a member of the County Assembly.

Residents complained to Sakaja after the local MCA took public land near Eastleigh Health Centre.

The politician allegedly conspired with another Member of the County Assembly who built the structure that Sakaja’s officials demolished.

Following the demolition, one of the local MCAs accused Sakaja of intimidation and claimed that the county government was on a witch hunt because he exposed fraud and embezzlement of funds.

However, Subcounty Medical Officer Dr Miriam Etole emphasised that the county was mandated to protect public land, especially institutions key in providing health services. 

“Eastleigh Health Centre is one of the Public Health Facilities within Kamukunji Sub-County located on three plots along Fourth Street and Muyuyu Lane Eastleigh Second Avenue.

“The facility offers Curative, Maternal Neonatal Child Health Services, Maternity as well Sexual and Gender-Based Violence response unit,” Subcounty Medical Officer Dr Miriam Etole reiterated. 

Etole claimed in a letter to the Nairobi County Government’s Health Facilities Chief Officer that the MCA demolished a structure on the hospital’s land before constructing his flat.

“The sub-county medical officer reported that the facility housed the ward administrator’s offices, and the Eastleigh Airbase MCA had requested to set up his office there.” During the Christmas holidays, however, the MCA gained access to the building and demolished it, leaving residents without a health centre,” Etole added.

Sakaja has consistently emphasised the importance of addressing land grabbing within the city and protecting critical government infrastructure. 

During a search operation at the Coptic Holy Ghost Church in Kisumu, managed by Father John Pesa, officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations discovered gravelike sites.

In a statement issued on Friday, August 4, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) stated that the DCI will exhume the graves in the coming days as investigations into the church’s operations continue.

The ODPP and DCI searched the church after the pastor was accused of detaining sick people.

“During the operation, two grave-like spots were discovered on the grounds behind the church, and three suspected sick victims were rescued and taken to the hospital for medical assessment and treatment,” stated ODPP.

“This is in response to a court order that granted the investigating agency authorization to conduct the exercise following several complaints that people with mental disabilities were being illegally held within the church premises,” the ODPP added.

Detectives also suspect that some mentally challenged patients died and were buried without a permit on the church grounds.

Pesa, on the other hand, claimed that all patients present at the church came willingly to seek healing, with some being released after feeling better.

He also claimed that the authorities unfairly targeted him in the absence of concrete evidence and were afraid of going after other churches that house the sick.

“Sick people are brought here for healing, and some, after healing, return home, including those with mental illnesses,” he explained.

Pesa has recently come under fire for allegedly illegally detaining mentally ill patients under the guise of healing them.

It was also claimed that he chains patients to prevent them from escaping.

The agencies’ search comes just days after senators visited the church as part of their ongoing investigations into the proliferation of religious organizations.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, on the other hand, insisted that the government would respect the independence of the church even as President William Ruto’s task force investigated the proliferation of religious organizations.