Tension is high in Kitale after the gate to the Trans Nzoia County headquarters was barricaded by General Service Unit officers on Monday, October 20, 2026.
The heavy police deployment came hours after Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya threatened to storm the newly launched Masinde Muliro Business Park, a KSh 840 million ultra-modern market that President William Ruto officially opened on Friday, October 16.
GSU officers and police officers have flooded the streets of Kitale, sealing off the county headquarters and the market area ahead of Natembeya’s planned visit.
Governor Natembeya is accusing the national government of hijacking a county project. He claims the 5-storey market with over 3,000 stalls was built entirely using county funds and World Bank funding, not national government money.
“You want to come here and bully me, yet I have the Constitution as my line of defence? I am the one who built it. There is not a single cent from Ruto there,” Natembeya said last week.
He had vowed to remove President Ruto’s plaque from the market, saying once he leaves, we will remove his and put ours.
President Ruto on his side says the market had stalled for four years and his government rescued it by mobilizing nearly KSh 1 billion to complete it. During the launch, he handed over KSh 15 million to 1,500 displaced traders and warned against selling of stalls.
The row has now expanded to include the new Kitale Level 5 Hospital. The 500-bed hospital project has been handed over to the Kenya Defence Forces and President Ruto has committed KSh 1 billion to it. Governor Natembeya says the hospital is being built on county land without county involvement and has vowed to visit the site as well.
On Saturday, Natembeya dared police to arrest him.”Let me tell my people, my last day may be Monday because on Monday I am going to fight with the national government, let them come with guns and bombs but I will get the residents of Trans Nzoia into the market, him bringing Sebei people from Uganda and bringing them to the market we will not accept,” the Governor said.
The Interior Cabinet Secretary had warned Natembeya not to try to disrupt the President’s projects, saying he heard he has planned to protest on Monday and warning him not to try that.
Videos from Kitale this morning show GSU lorries, barricaded gates, and armed officers surrounding the county headquarters and the Masinde Muliro market, with water cannons also reported to have been deployed.