Savula: This is how Western will deliver 2.6m votes to Ruto in 2027

Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula/FILE

Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula has affirmed that he and his team will deliver 2.6 million votes to President William Ruto in Western Kenya during the 2027 elections.

Speaking in an interview with NTV on Tuesday, Savula said the effort, led by Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka, aims to secure support in the region that traditionally backed the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

“We will transfer all the votes that we used to give Raila to Ruto,” Savula stated, underlining the strategic importance of Western Kenya in the next presidential contest.

Lusaka has been appointed to coordinate Ruto’s re-election campaign in the Western Region, with Savula serving as his deputy. Savula said the team had convened a meeting with MPs and MCAs allied to the president, agreeing to mobilize support for Ruto across all caucuses.

“Immediately after the Malava by-election, I called the President and I told him I wanted to join you formally. He said, "Go ahead," and asked what I needed. I told him I want to structure a team that will deliver votes for you in Western,” he recounted.

Savula revealed that the President instructed that Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula, who are also from Western Kenya, should take charge at the national level of the campaign, while Lusaka and Savula focus on the region.

“In Kakamega, we have managed to get 334 aspirants for these seats. There are only 12 constituencies, but we have 49 aspirants for MP seats, 148 for 60 ward seats, 15 for the one woman representative, and three for governor positions,” he said.

“What does that show? There is enthusiasm, and this thing is attractive on the ground.”

Savula also dismissed any hopes by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua of winning support from western, saying the region is firmly behind Ruto.

He emphasised that the campaign effort is not a personal initiative but a consolidated team effort of all Western leaders allied to Ruto.

“It is not a Savula initiative alone, it is a consolidated initiative of all leaders from Western,” he said.

He added that the campaign strategy would see him and Lusaka concentrate on Western Kenya, while Ruto, Mudavadi, and Wetang’ula traverse other parts of the country.

“If Ruto is in Kilifi, let him be with Musalia and Wetang’ula there to give his campaign a national face. Our focus, me and Lusaka, will be Western,” he noted.

Savula credited his team’s credibility and capacity to deliver votes to their success in the Malava by-election.

“He believed in me after we delivered the Malava by-election. We had an assignment and we will deliver. It is me who decided I want to work with Ruto and not him deciding he wants to work with me,” he said, stressing the proactive nature of their campaign planning.