Kenyan President William Ruto said Sunday he had “no blood on his hands” after a deadly day of anti-government protests on June 25, which he said left 19 people dead, a lower toll than human rights groups had said.
This is the first official report given for this day of mobilization marked by the storming by demonstrators of Parliament, which had just voted on a criticized 2024-25 budget project introducing tax increases. The police then fired live ammunition into the crowd.
The next day, saying he had heard the anger, the president announced the withdrawal of the text. This choice will have “very serious (economic) consequences”, warned William Ruto on Sunday.
In a two-hour interview on Kenyan television, the president put the death toll at 19.
“I have no blood on my hands,” he said, promising “an investigation into how these 19 Kenyans died.”
On Saturday, the NGO Human Rights Watch said it had recorded at least 31 deaths in several cities across the country.
The official human rights agency (KNHRC) had previously reported 22 deaths and a group of local NGOs, including the Kenyan branch of Amnesty International, reported 23 deaths “caused by police shooting”.
“The police did their best,” said William Ruto, reaffirming that “criminals infiltrated and sowed chaos.”
“Those who attacked the Parliament and the judicial institutions are on video surveillance. Many of them are on the run, but we will catch them. (…) Any killer policeman who went beyond what is provided for by law will be punished,” he added.
– Mobilization Tuesday –
On Sunday, several hundred people – mostly young people – marched peacefully in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in tribute to the victims of the movement.
They then marched around chanting “Ruto Must go” and “Tuesday Holiday”, in reference to the next day of mobilization scheduled for Tuesday.
Born in mid-June on social networks, this opposition to the draft budget strongly mobilized young people, before drawing Kenyans of all ages in its wake.
The anti-tax slogan has turned into a protest against President Ruto who, since coming to power in 2022, has created and increased several taxes which have hit the purchasing power of Kenyans hard.
These painful measures are necessary, according to him, to restore room for maneuver to the country, which is heavily in debt.
– “Two years ago” –
Withdrawing the draft budget, “this means that we have gone back almost two years and that this year, we are going to borrow 1,000 billion shillings (7 billion euros, editor’s note) to be able to run the government”, he said. – he underlined, mentioning in particular negative consequences in the sectors of agriculture and education.
“We should have communicated better” on the text, he said: “If I am given the opportunity to explain to the Kenyan people what the draft budget consisted of and what it would have brought them, then Kenyans would agree with me.”
Mr Ruto also reiterated that measures would be taken to reduce “opulence and extravagance” in the state’s lifestyle, saying he was prepared to reduce his own salary.
Kenya, one of East Africa’s fastest growing economies, recorded inflation of 5.1% year-on-year in May.
Its public debt stands at around 10,000 billion shillings (71 billion euros), or around 70% of GDP.
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