Ruto, Raila to attend Turkana cultural festival in Lodwar

President William Ruto and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga are expected in Lodwar, Turkana County for the Turkana cultural festival dubbed Tobong’u Lore.

President Ruto was set to attend the festival on Thursday while Odinga was expected to grace the event on Friday.

A statement from ODM Party’s director of communications Philip Etale said Odinga is on Friday expected to give a keynote address on devolution, touching on its benefits and why it should be boosted for more development in the devolved units.

The annual festival, now in its seventh year, kicks off on Thursday to showcase the culture of the Turkana people and depict Turkana as the cradle of mankind.

Odinga opened the first Tobong’u Lore in 2014.

The 2019 census estimates the Turkana population at 1,016,174, or 2.14 per cent of the Kenyan population.

It is the third-largest Nilotic ethnic group in Kenya, after the Kalenjin and the Luo and the tenth-largest ethnicity in Kenya.