- Gen Z protesters are more angered and motivated than ever for Tuesday July 2, following the President's Statehouse interview on Sunday June 30.
- The President was forced to answer all the tough questions, ranging from secret abductions of protesters, to if he had blood on his hands.
- The tip of the iceberg was the question on Kennedy Onyango, a 12-year-old boy, who was shot eight times in the course of the protests, to which the president responded by assuming the boy was still alive.
- Kenyans claim the interview only asserts their conviction that the government is so out of touch and indifferent to the ordinary citizen that the only solution is pushing the president and his whole cabinet to resign.
Gen Z protesters are more angered and motivated than ever, following the events of Sunday June 30, 2024 that saw President William Ruto answer questions in relation to the last two weeks, that have kept everyone on edge.
The President, speaking at Statehouse Nairobi, was forced to answer all the tough questions, ranging from secret abductions of protesters, to if he had blood on his hands.
On the pressing question of why the police were using excessive force, including the use of live rounds on peaceful protesters, the President, detaching himself, said that he had instituted an independent police force.
“I have made sure there is no extra judicial killing in Kenya. When I came into office, I said I want an independent police service and I did sign the necessary instruments so the police does not need authority or permission, and does not report to the office of the president,” he said.
Following 24 lives lost in the course of the last two weeks, the president responded by claiming the true statistic was 19, and that the Kenya National Human Rights Commission, which recorded the casualties, was blatantly painting falsehoods.
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On the question of the deputy president, who earlier asserted that extrajudicial killings and abductions had resurfaced, Ruto was quick to sideline Gachagua by stating that he (Ruto) was the president and he represented the people of Kenya.
But the tip of the iceberg was the question on Kennedy Onyango, a 12-year-old boy, who was shot eight times in the course of the protests. Responding to the question, the president assumed that the boy was still alive by asking, “that boy is alive, right?”
Kenyans who were watching in their millions were angered by the sentiment, claiming that the interview only asserted their conviction that the government was so out of touch and indifferent to the ordinary Kenyan citizen that the only solution was pushing the president and his whole cabinet to resign.
The hashtag #RutoMustGo reclaimed its position on the top trending charts on X, with protesters claiming that the fire for Tuesday, July 2, 2024 had already been lit.
Tuesday’s planned protests are themed towards remembering the souls lost as part of another ‘7-days of Justice’ movement in what has come to be called the new ‘saba saba’ as July 7 inches closer.
