President William Ruto has reassured Kenyans that a detailed report will be forthcoming regarding the deaths of 19 individuals during last week’s protests that turned violent. Expressing regret over the loss of innocent lives, Ruto emphasized that every loss of life concerns him deeply, as it should for everyone.
“There will be an investigation on how these 19 Kenyans died, they will be a clarity, an explanation for each and every one of them,” he said.
He noted that law enforcers have records of all those who died.
In one of the incidents which he said police had to use a live bullet, the head of state disclosed that a man hijacked a firearm from an officer at Ngong after overpowering them.
“The man accosted the police, took the gun and used it against innocent
citizens and police had to shoot him to avoid endangering the lives of many others,” he said.
“I cannot confirm if this is the man that fired several bullets at a 12-year-old boy, but investigations are ongoing and we shall get to the bottom of it. I am telling the mother of the young person killed that I as a president will make sure that finally I will give her an explanation of what really happened and bring this to a situation where like myself who have children, her children can be accounted for.”
Speaking during a presidential round table Sunday night, Ruto dismissed reports that over 20 people had died in the demos.
According to the president, reports that 24 were killed are misleading asserting there were only 19 as per the available records and that there was only one death at Githurai.
“An organisation that is as reckless as to say there was a massacre when there was none is now telling us there were 24 deaths when police are saying it is 19…we will find out where the numbers,” he noted.
As to the case of the parliament invasion, Ruto said the invaders attacked the armoury both at the mausoleum and at the sergeant-at-arms’s office.
