President William Ruto returned to the Maa community on Thursday for a three-day tour of Kajiado County, extending a political and development push that began barely two weeks ago with his expansive two-day visit to neighbouring Narok County.
The President is scheduled to tour Kajiado on Thursday, September 3, return on Saturday, September 5, and wind up the programme on Monday, September 7.
The itinerary takes him across the county, with stops at projects ranging from roads, electricity and irrigation schemes to affordable housing, markets, bridges and student hostels.
On paper, the tour is framed around development. But its timing and geography give it an unmistakable political dimension.
Ruto: The Amboseli Park court challenge will go nowhere, just like SHA and Housing
The Maa community, concentrated mainly in Kajiado and Narok, with a presence in Samburu and other pastoralist counties, controls a sizeable electoral bloc. The three principal Maa counties alone have about 1,091,690 million registered voters — Kajiado with 522,725, Narok with 448,160 and Samburu with 120,805.
That, according to political pundits, makes the region too important to be left to political chance as the 2027 presidential contest gathers momentum.
For president Ruto, the stakes are particularly high because the Maa vote was part of the political battlefield he shared with the former ODM leader Raila Odinga. Mr Odinga died in India on October 15, 2025, leaving behind a political constituency whose allegiance is now being contested by rival formations.
“Here in Narok, we were fighting with Raila Odinga. He used to get half and I get half. But in 2027, you have information that we have united ODM and UDA and it is now broad-based. Will the votes in Narok now be 100 per cent?” he asked.
The remark captured the political calculation behind the President's renewed attention to the Maa region that the death of Mr Odinga has altered the old contest, while the emerging UDA-ODM partnership gives him a new basis on which to seek votes that were previously divided between the two sides.
The Kajiado tour comes just days after president Dr Ruto's August 25-26 visit to Narok, where development announcements were accompanied by an increasingly confident political message.
Ruto: I told Tata Chemicals to go, all their money was going to India
In Narok, the President launched construction of the 59-kilometre Enengetia-Olposimoru road and highlighted progress on the Ngoswani-Naikarra-Morijo road, where 30 kilometres had been completed.
He also pointed to ongoing works on the Ololung'a-Ewaso Ng'iro road and the Ololung'a-Sogoo-Saptet-Mulot road, which was reported to be nearly 60 per cent complete.
Other projects included the 40-kilometre Suswa-Inkorionito-Naiekia-Enkare road, Narok Airport, last-mile electricity connections and the Ololung'a Modern Market.
Ruto: The Amboseli Park court challenge will go nowhere, just like SHA and Housing
The government also said it was investing Sh2.8 billion to connect an additional 15,000 households in Narok to electricity, after connecting 14,000 households over the previous three years. Ruto also broke ground for the Sh62 million Olposimoru Power Station, which is expected to connect schools, trading centres and more than 300 households.
Education and urban development were another major component of the Narok tour. The President highlighted the construction of student hostels and classrooms at the Kenya Medical Training College in Emurua Dikirr at a cost of Sh230 million, as well as hostels and a tuition block for the proposed Johanna Ng'eno University.
There was also a significant land component, including the Government's intervention in the Cheluget land dispute, where 5,800 acres were acquired for hundreds of families after a decades-long dispute. The Government has said title deeds will subsequently be issued to the beneficiaries.
Narok Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu has presented such interventions as evidence that the county is benefiting from the Ruto administration.
President William Ruto greats Narok Governor Patrick ole Ntutu on arrival in Kajiado County on September 3, 2026 for a three-day tour.
Photo credit: PCS
Speaking during a public gathering on the Cheluget settlement, Mr Ntutu described the resolution of the three-decade dispute as historic and cited other projects, including the airport and planned infrastructure investments.
The governor has also called for restraint among politicians as the 2027 contest approaches, warning that disruptive and divisive campaigns could undermine Narok's peace.
On Friday in Kajiado South, Dr Ruto is scheduled to inspect the Sultan Hamud-Loitoktok electricity project, roads and projects in Rombo, including an Economic Stimulus Programme market and water and irrigation works.
He will also visit the Oloitoktok affordable housing project and KMTC student hostels before proceeding to the Kimana Modern Market.
In Kajiado Central, the itinerary includes the Namanga ESP Market, the Namanga-Isinya electricity project, Maparasha and Lesonkoyo bridges, Kajiado Town affordable housing and student hostels, police housing units and the Kajiado Town Market.
Saturday's programme shifts the focus to Kajiado West and Kajiado East. Among the projects are the Nguruman Irrigation Scheme, Kibiko Road, the Mashuuru ESP Market and the 72-kilometre Imaroro-Mashuuru-Isara road, whose listed investment is Sh560 million.
In Isinya, the President will inspect vocational housing for TVET students, while in Kitengela the programme includes housing, the municipality housing project, the Kitengela Modern Market and water, an issue of growing importance in the rapidly expanding urban centre.
The final leg on Monday takes him into Kajiado North, where he is scheduled to visit the Ongata Rongai ESP Open Market and Kware Market, Gataka affordable housing, Ngong VET housing, the Olkeri-Gataka-Cooperative road and the Northern Corridor collector water project.
Taken together, the programme offers the President an opportunity to present his administration's record in a county where infrastructure, water, electricity, housing and employment are among the issues likely to shape the political conversation.
The President's renewed attention to Kajiado comes as former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's Democracy for the Citizens Party steps up efforts to establish itself in the same political space.
Mr Gachagua has in recent months repeatedly toured Kajiado and Narok, openly targeting the Maa vote as part of his effort to expand DCP beyond its traditional Mt Kenya base.
In August, he received a group of Kajiado MCAs into DCP and declared that the journey towards “100 per cent DCP in Kajiado” was almost complete.
His strategy goes beyond political rallies. DCP has placed prominent Maa politicians in senior party positions, including Kajiado's David ole Persaina as national chairman and Narok's Martin ole Kamwaro as deputy secretary-general in charge of strategy.
Mr Gachagua has also sought to directly challenge Dr Ruto's development record. During a Kajiado visit in August, he accused the President of failing to deliver on promises on electricity, water and roads.
His message is almost the mirror image of President Ruto's; while the President is presenting projects as evidence of delivery, his former deputy is seeking to turn perceived gaps in delivery into an argument for political change.
President William Ruto addresses residents of Kajiado County on September 3, 2026 when he commenced a three-day tour of the county.
Photo credit: PCS
It is increasingly becoming a test of whether development projects can translate into political loyalty.
Mr Odinga was for years able to establish a strong connection with the Maa community despite Dr Ruto's repeated efforts to penetrate the region. The 2022 presidential contest demonstrated the importance of that relationship, with the Maa counties forming part of the wider political coalition behind the former Prime Minister.
In 2022 Raila secured 158,526 votes in Kajiado County (51.16 percent) against Dr Ruto’s 148,439 votes (47.91 percent). In Narok, Raila managed 102,279 votes (52.02 percent) against Dr Ruto’s 92,894 (47.24 percent) and in Samburu, Raila got 41,737 votes (59.04 percent) against Dr Ruto’s 28,319 (40.06 percent).
President Ruto now has the advantage of occupying State House and being able to combine development tours with an appeal for support. The emerging relationship between UDA and ODM gives him another political asset, particularly in a region where Raila's influence was substantial.
But Mr Gachagua is attempting to ensure that Mr Odinga’s old supporters do not automatically migrate to the President.
His recent activity suggests a deliberate attempt to portray DCP as a vehicle for those seeking an alternative to both Dr Ruto and the established political order. The former deputy president has already secured elected representatives and grassroots networks in Kajiado, while also making inroads into Narok.
With more than half a million registered voters in Kajiado alone, and more than 1.09 million across Kajiado, Narok and Samburu, consolidating the Maa vote would provide a substantial boost to president Ruto’s 2027 re-election effort.
The President's three-day Kajiado blitz is therefore both a development tour and an early electoral investment.
