Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga has revealed that she held talks with President William Ruto prior to his visit to the county on Sunday, October 2.
Speaking on Tuesday, October 4, Wanga stated that Ruto was understanding after she told him that she would not attend his church event.
The Governor noted that she explained to the Head of State that she already had a pre-planed event with her Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) in Mombasa and hinted that she got the invitation to Ruto's event late at night.
"I was in Mombasa that Sunday where I was addressing the MCA. It was impossible to travel from Mombasa on Saturday at 9 pm and get here on Sunday at 9 am to welcome him on time. I explained that to him and he said that it was okay because I was away," she stated.
Further, she refuted any claims that her failure to receive the President was out of spite indicating that she was willing to work with Ruto to bring development to her county.
"We cannot chase anyone, we will welcome our visitors. We will not even protest because we want development in the county.
"The only thing I can request is that I be informed, even if it is by a one-day notice, so that we can prepare. We were all looking for the presidency and we know what happened. We do not agree with the outcome but we have to deal with the situation as is," she explained.
However, she hit out at Ruto's allies from Nyanza for taking advantage of the situation to further drive a wedge between her team and that of the National Government.
She opined that they should have advised Ruto to reschedule the meeting since a majority of the leaders in the region received the invitation late.
"Ruto is being misled by some people from our region and they want to ensure that we continue with our differences. They should have advised him to postpone the trip to a later date so that we welcome him.
"How can a leader come from Siaya to welcome the DP in Homabay yet you do not know our issues? What they have done will make others feel like we do not want to work with Ruto," she stated.
During the Sunday visit, Ruto was received by Ugenya Member of parliament David Ochieng and ICT nominee to the cabinet Eliud Owalo.
Those who missed include Homa Bay Town Constituency MP Peter Kaluma and his nominated counterpart John Mbadi. Kaluma also decried late communication as well as a lack of means.
