President William Ruto on Wednesday, June 19 said Kenyans who want to demonstrate can demonstrate but decisions have to be made by institutions.
Speaking on Wednesday during a meeting with Amani National Congress (ANC) leaders at State House, the president said Kenya was a democratic country and civil society could do what it wanted.
The Head of State however said decisions have to be made by government institutions.
“I will make sure that as a democratic country, all institutions work for the people of Kenya. It is the way we are going to take Kenya into the future. And there’s no conflict every arm of government is doing their assignment and I will make sure as President I respect institutions so that we can make right decisions so that we centralise the place of people of Kenya,” Ruto said.
“We are a democratic country. Those who want to demonstrate it is their right, no problem. But decisions have to be made by institutions. We will make decisions as an executive, take it to the legislature, people of Kenya will speak to it through public participation, others will subject it to court processes and that is how democracy works and I am a great believer in democracy,” he added.
The President affirmed that he will make sure Kenya continues to be a robust democracy where people engage constructively.
He noted that while the Executive proposes where it wants the country to go, the people of Kenya have the ultimate say through public participation.
He said as Kenya transitions from debt to a self-reliant country, it has to be done in a way that institutions play a part in the reform.
His remarks come after a number of Kenyan youths led the ‘occupy parliament’ protests in Nairobi CBD on Tuesday.
The protests were held to compel MPs to reject the controversial Finance Bill 2024, which had proposals for increasing taxation.
The youthful protestors engaged the anti-riot police officers in running battles with over 100 of them being arrested and taken to different police stations across Nairobi.
Despite being arrested the protestors took photos and recorded videos even inside police cells.
