President Uhuru Kenyatta has picked Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos to lead the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) push in Deputy President William Ruto's Rift Valley backyard.
Although he was elected on a Jubilee Party ticket, Tolgos has been a vocal critic of Ruto and is seen as a close ally of Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) Party leader Gideon Moi.
According to a report by Daily Nation on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, Uhuru chose him to spearhead the program after a meeting at State House, Mombasa.
The governor was tasked with chairing a secretariat that will bring together leaders from different Rift Valley counties to co-ordinate awareness and popularization of the BBI report.
"Right now, we do not have specific names of people to join the secretariat, but I will meet with the other governors, MPs, former lawmakers and opinion leaders and we will have a discussion on that. We want to have an all-inclusive process.
"I would like to tell our people that we should not be left out of this BBI process.
"There are issues we want to be addressed like land problems, historical injustices, maize, tea and milk issues. We want to deal with the BBI first. There is nothing about 2022 politics right now. People will go back and seek votes later after BBI," Tolgos told Daily Nation.
Among the first items on Tolgos' to-do list will be to ensure everything is set for the first BBI consultative forum in Rift Valley scheduled to be held in Suswa, Narok County on February 17.
The event is under threat as leaders allied to the deputy President have promised to lead BBI meetings in the Rift themselves, stating that they were not aware of Tolgos' mandate.
"We are not aware of any other BBI meetings or groups in the region. If Tolgos is leading another team, they are welcome to join us or share their programs," Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen asserted.
Other Rift Valley leaders, including Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny and former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, are also expected to play key roles in popularizing the BBI report in the vast region.
Tolgos made headlines when he apologized to Uhuru on behalf of Ruto-allied leaders from the region over attacks on the government.
The leaders had criticized investigations into the dams scandal in which Ksh21 billion was reportedly lost with the monies not used for their intended purpose of building hydro-power projects in Kerio Valley.
“On behalf of the people of Elgeyo-Marakwet, we sincerely apologise to the head of State over political utterances by four MPs and a handful of MCAs, purporting to be speaking on behalf of the people on the ongoing investigations...
“If the MPs were irked by perceived differences between the president and DP William Ruto, owing to the handshake between the president and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, they ought to have relaxed instead of ranting because Jubilee has mechanisms of resolving disputes," he noted.
The Governor has also hosted Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party leader Raila Odinga for events in his county on more than one occasion. Alongside Uhuru, Odinga has been the biggest backer of the BBI report.
