Deputy President William Ruto is an avid farmer or so he portrays himself. But his love for land surpasses any other passion he may be harboring.
He knows where opportunities lie and will go to great lengths to experiment with new ideas. This enthusiasm has seen him buy chicken from Israel and chicken eggs from Khartoum, Sudan.
However, the drive to excel at farming has put him on a collision path with the Taita Taveta County government and villagers, who accuse him of diverting water to his ranch as they go thirsty.
Dr. Ruto purchased a ranch in the county from former MP Basil Criticos and set out to rear livestock. The farm, located in Mata Ward, 27 kilometers from Taveta town, is on the Taveta-Jipe Road, bordering the vast Criticos ranch and neighboring Lake Jipe to the South.
After the purchase, he set out to fortify it by erecting an electric fence to ward off squatters, who are a perennial threat to ranch owners.
The farm, which has livestock, is managed by a South African, Arie Dempers, who got in trouble with the police last year after an altercation with locals.
Mr. Dempers was arrested and briefly detained after the county government accused the property management of diverting a water canal to the farm.
Ruto arrived at the farm on Sunday morning in a helicopter and went to herd livestock.
Dressed in a black pair of trousers, checked shirt, a white hat, and safari boots, with a shepherd’s crook in hand, the DP was seen herding livestock on the vast farm.
Mr. Dennis Itumbi posted online images of the deputy president herding livestock.
“The DP called me before he jetted on his farm. He told me he was coming to rest and inspect development projects on his farm. He has not told me that he will meet people. He has told me that he has come to have some rest,” said Mata Ward representative Chanzu Khamadi, a DP ally in the county.
The Ford-Kenya legislator said the DP “is around for some days.”
Another Ruto ally, who declined to be named, termed the visit private.
“The DP has told me that his visit is private unless he changes to do other things,” the DP’s ally told The Standard.
Apart from rearing livestock, Ruto is constructing a 4-acre man-made lake for irrigation purposes, Khamadi said.
The farm management said the multi-billion shilling project was aimed at promoting irrigation to improve the economy of the community.
“We have provided employment opportunities to the local community, apart from providing water and entrepreneurial farming skills to transform their lives, as part of our corporate social responsibility,” stated Dempers.
Other projects lined up on the farm include a modern primary school at Mata Ward, a bursary and scholarship program, a police post at Cess and tarmacking of Cess-Lake Jipe road to improve fishing and tourism industries.
Dempers said Taveta was the breadbasket of the coastal region, but the potential has not been fully utilized for the benefit of locals in areas of employment and poverty alleviation.
Dempers said the fact that the Njoro Kubwa canal and Njoro Springs passed through the farm made it viable for the project.
“We acquired the land two years ago from Mr. Criticos. We have erected an electric fence around it,” he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta recently sent all Cabinet members on a 14-day working leave starting August 17 amid speculation about a looming reshuffle. DP Ruto is also rumuoured to have been sent on leave since his office was moved to presidency.
Cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries, chief administrative secretaries and the Attorney-General will only attend to national emergencies during this period.
Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua communicated the decision on Friday, saying the next Cabinet meeting will take place on September 3.
It is said that President Kenyatta aims to make changes in the Cabinet in a race against time to implement legacy projects under his Big Four agenda.
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