President William Rito has been asked to make sure that he fulfils the pledge he made during campaigns so that Kenyans can have a new lease on life.
Several leaders in Kilifi County said fulfilling election promise is what Kenyans would want to see in the near future.
Top among the promises they said he made for Kilifi County during the campaigns include resettling squatters by buying one million acres of land from absentee landlords and land owners, creating jobs for the youth and reviving the tourism sector.
The politicians led by Kilifi County Jubilee Party Chairman from the Azimio la Umoja Kenya One Coalition Alwy Shariff pledged to support the president in 2027 if he ‘treats’ them well.
Addressing a press conference in Malindi town Shariff said despite the political differences their allegiance from now will be to Ruto because he was the president elected by the Majority of Kenyans.
“If you will not sideline us as Jubilee party supporters we shall support you,” he said.
He said they are bitter with Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka for failing to honour his promise of one of their own despite receiving facilitation from them during the campaigns.
“You promised a nomination to Abubakar Mohamed Twalib after facilitating you during campaigns only to shortchange him last minute and opted to nominate a person from your tribe, that is one of the reasons which will make us as Azimio supporters ditch the coalition and support UDA and its government,” he said.
Sharif urged Kalonzo to change and do justice or else they will all support President Ruto.
To Ruto, he said they will support his administration in all means so as to revive the economy as Malindi relies on the Ocean, and tourism as there are no industries.
Former Nominated Councillor Kassim Omar called the president to appoint a Cabinet Secretary for Tourism who is experienced in matters of the sector and who has the vision to revive tourism in the country.
He said in the Coast region tourism collapsed and many hotels were closed down as investors cannot sustain the challenges.
“We would also like the president to work closely with our Governor Gideon Mung’aro on the tourism and give him a CS who will work with the county government and the entire country to revive the industry,” he said.
On issues of Land, he said the national government should deal with the land issues by buying the land to settle squatters.
The land problem he said has always created tension during the electioneering period but assured the president that once the issue is resolved and squatters are settled it will be a milestone for Malindi.
Mohamed Salim alias Dodo a veteran politician said they have high hopes that Kenya is headed for transformation because Ruto has a vision for the future.
“We pray God to help our country since we conducted peaceful elections and we are moving on in peace there are signs that prices of goods will go down, already we have seen him reducing the prices of fertilisers, he said.
Omar Bayusuf a businessman from Malindi said the president should listen to the cries of Kenyans and ensure prices of Maize flour, rice, sugar and cooking oil goes down.
“We urge you to intervene and deal with the high costs of the products,” he said.
Zainab Mohamed a Makuti Seller from Malindi town called on the president to revive tourism which is the only economic pillar which collapsed and hotels closed down.
Currently, she said children are not in school due to a lack of fees because of the hard economic time.
“We urge you, president Ruto, we have been with you and we elected you overwhelmingly please stand with us the poor and address our concerns we are suffering,” he said.
Abdalla Ali a former National Museum Curator said tourism completely collapsed and asked the president to look for the appropriate CS who can uplift the sector for the entire nation.
We used to have a good number of tourists but now we have no tourists at all my heart is bleeding please try your level best to look for a person who can really motivate the tourists in their home countries to come to Kenya,” he said.
Hassan Mwinyi a resident of Malindi said the land issue should be addressed because the lack of title deeds has contributed to poverty since locals can’t apply for loans.
