President William Ruto’s tour of Northern Kenya was scripted as a triumph of development; it has landed as a confrontation with reality. As the President touched down in Wajir to distribute World Bank-funded "NYOTA" cash transfers, he was met not just by hopeful crowds, but by a scathing indictment from his former Deputy, Rigathi Gachagua.

In a press conference that felt more like a prosecution opening statement, Gachagua dismantled the President’s narrative of "ending marginalization." Armed with data and a biting rhetorical style, the former DP listed the ghosts of projects past: the non-existent roads in Mandera, the dry taps in Wajir, and the darkness in a region promised connection to the Ethiopian grid. "Why lie to them?" Gachagua asked, a question that reverberated across the arid plains.

The Illusion of the "Silicon Savannah"

The President’s "Minority and Marginalised Communities Plan" promises inclusion, but the ground truth is stark. Mandera still receives electricity for only a few hours a day. The "1.2 million acres of irrigation" in the Mandera Triangle remain a dust bowl. The disconnect between the rhetoric of the "Silicon Savannah" and the reality of a population studying under trees is becoming a political liability that cash transfers cannot paper over.

Ruto’s strategy relies on the optic of activity—launches, commissionings, and vows. But the patience of the North is wearing thin. The "NYOTA" funds, while welcome, are seen by critics as a temporary salve on a deep structural wound. The region doesn't just want aid; it wants the infrastructure that was budgeted for and never delivered.

• The Power Deficit: Despite promises of a grid connection via Ethiopia, Mandera remains in the dark, relying on a rationing schedule that cripples business.
• The Water Crisis: Gachagua’s statistic that less than 35% of the region has clean water contradicts the administration's claims of successful water pans and dams.
• Political Fallout: Gachagua’s aggressive "truth-telling" tour is designed to sever Ruto’s hold on the Somali voting bloc ahead of 2027.

A Region at the Crossroads

Northern Kenya has long been the stepchild of the Kenyan state. Ruto promised to change that, to make the periphery the center. But as he stands on the podium in Wajir, the dust swirling around his motorcade is a reminder of the work left undone.

The President vowed to end decades of marginalization. Three years in, the verdict from the ground—and from his estranged deputy—is that the marginalization has merely been rebranded.