President William Ruto has assured Kenyans that no extrajudicial killings will take place while he is in office.
He was speaking at the State House on Monday when he hosted an Iftar dinner attended by Muslim leaders from across the country.
“I made a promise during my campaign trail, that I would stop extrajudicial killings,” President Ruto said.
“No mother, no Kenyan will die under circumstances that the government of Kenya cannot explain.”
According to President Ruto, the Muslim community has been the target of extrajudicial killings in the past under the guise of the war on terror group, al-Shabaab.
President Ruto contended that, while the problem began with the elimination of Muslims, it grew unchecked and bodies began to turn up across the country in unexplained murders.
“Mbeleni, hii maneno ya extrajudicial killings ilikuwa inatarget waislamu ati juu ya mambo ya al-Shabaab.”
“Finally, what happened, it was no longer about Muslims ……………most people kept quiet while Muslims were being targetted, but what happened?” President Ruto posed.
He referred to the River Yala murders, in which 36 bodies were recovered from the river in 2022, as well as the ‘container of death,’ in which an elite DCI unit was implicated in extrajudicial killings.
“We had a whole container ya kuua watu hapa Kilimani police station…that’s what happens when we keep quiet when wrong things are happening,” he added.
When President Ruto took office, he reorganized Kenya’s criminal investigation bureau, announcing the resignation of the then-DCI chief, George Kinoti.
He would later tell the media that in 2022, police recovered at least 200 bodies across the country, all of which were suspected to be victims of police killings.
“There was a container at the Nairobi area where people were being slaughtered in a police station. I mean how did we end up there? What kind of rogue institution was that? And that’s why I fired that Kinoti man because it’s not right. There will be responsibility,” Ruto said.
