President William Ruto on Friday denied that a young child was shot eight times in Ongata Rongai during the anti-government protests.
During the Space Conversation, hosted by influencer Osama Otero, President Ruto explained that the photos shown were from years ago and did not reflect the situation at Rongai.
He claimed that opportunists took advantage of the peaceful protests to further their agendas.
“It was said that a young Kenyan was stuffed with 8 bullets, that is not true. The one that was said of 8 bullets did not exist. We found out that it happened several years ago in Buru Buru,” Ruto said.
This did not sit well with Kenyans online who told the president to take accountability for the brute force used by the anti-riot officers on peaceful protestors.
“The right to picket is enshrined in the Constitution. The protests were hijacked and I am sure the people who burnt parliament were not peaceful protestors,” he responded.
“Honestly do you want to tell me the innocent protestors are the ones who disrupted businesses, burn down parliament? We need to protect protestors but also keep away criminals.”
Ruto also dismissed reports of Githurai massacre, whereby over 200 lives were allegedly lost, saying that the families should step forward to ascertain the claim.
“ It is good to be brutally honest and I will not ever say anything that is not factual, especially on a very serious matter. Are you saying 200 people were killed in Githurai? Really my friend, can the families step forward? 200 people is no joke. I am sorry to tell you that you have wrong numbers. Forget about social media. Tomorrow, I want to offer you to bring names to State House,” Ruto informed Otero.
