Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday apologised to the public for the "arrogance and show of opulence" by legislators and ministers from the ruling party and promised to take action against the "rogue" police officers who shot at unarmed civilians during the protest over tax hikes.
Referring to what he called official's arrogant statements, Ruto said that public speaking was "difficult" and some people made "mistakes" for which he would take responsibility, promising change in the officials' conduct.
Kenya experienced a fortnight of violence and unrest during the protests over the finance bill. Protestors even stormed the Parliament during the vote on the bill.
President Ruto was hosted Friday on the microblogging site X by social media influencer Osama Otero, who said he was abducted on the night of the protests and beaten by the cops.
Ruto said that he was regretful of the abduction and that he would take action, adding that it was "not right". “You don't deserve the kind of treatment you went through,” he added.
Noting that the police are independent entities who are not controlled by any executive branch of the government, Ruto promised to ensure prosecution of those responsible.
“I am ultimately responsible because I am president, and that is why I said it was regrettable,” Ruto said.
When protestors stormed into the Parliament during a finance bill vote -- which if approved, would have led to an increase in tax -- legislators fled the premises through an underground tunnel.
Police responded to the storming by opening fire leading to several agitators being shot dead.
Later, Ruto said that he would not sign the finance bill and told the Parliament that the proposed legislation should be withdrawn. However, protests continued to rage on with demands for Ruto's resignation over poor governance.
Ridden with corruption, Kenya's latest such case has been that sale and distribution of thousands of fake fertiliser bags worth millions of shillings by the agriculture ministry.
On Friday, the President was accused of not showing empathy and not mentioning the names of those who died during the protests. Responding to the accusations, Ruto said, "people are born differently".
Ruto was accused of not acknowledging the correct number of those who died in the protests. He stated the number to be 25 while the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights said that 39 persons were killed.
Before his interaction on X, Ruto -- in a televised address -- announced specific stern measures that included the dissolution of "47 state corporations with overlapping and duplicative functions" to save on operation and maintenance costs.
The Kenyan President also "suspended" the appointment of 50 chief administrative secretaries that were challenged in court on the basis of the positions being unconstitutional.
Ruto also announced that the offices of the first aldy and the spouses of the deputy PM and prime Cabinet secretary would not be funded by public money.
Meanwhile, the youngsters who spoke during Friday's engagement pressed on the need for the president to sack incompetent government ministers in a re-organisation he Ruto said was "coming soon".
(With AP inputs)
