President William Ruto on Wednesday apologized to Kericho County leaders for making late communication about his upcoming meeting in the region.
The Head of State who spoke during the launch of Chai Gold In Kericho, expressed his remorsefulness for the inconvenience caused by the delayed communication.
The president went ahead to commend the leaders for their timely attendance despite receiving information about the meeting barely hours before its kick-off.
"I want to ask for forgiveness from Kericho leaders for the ambush. I know you were informed late about the meeting but you still managed to come," President Ruto remarked.
Ruto also apologized for the sudden change in the venue of the meeting, stating that the meeting was planned to take place at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre but he opted to hold it in Kericho.
While defending the move, Ruto clarified that Kericho was closer to the tea stakeholders who were the majority among the guests, hence his decision to opt for the new venue.
"This is because this meeting was supposed to take place at the KICC but when the CS informed me about things that were going on there, I decided to reschedule the meeting to take place in Kericho where tea is manufactured," the Head of State clarified.
"So the CS tried to make arrangements and even requested for a venue in Murang'a but the venue there was also busy so we resorted to holding the meeting here," he added.
Meanwhile, during the launch of the new Kenyan flagship tea brand, Ruto pledged his support to the tea manufacturing sector.
According to Ruto, the agricultural sector contributed to 25 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and due to this, it was necessary to boost the sector through adequate resource allocation.
The president also assured Kenyans of the government's efforts to improve the economy, rubbing claims that his administration was underperforming.
"We will make sure we fulfil all the promises we made to Kenyans including supporting the agricultural sector where we promised to help farmers," Ruto stated.
