President Ruto praises police for upholding peace during protests

Speaking at a roadside address in Isiolo on Thursday, President Ruto said that police officers were steadfast in protecting the lives and property of Kenyans even as the protesters engaged in fierce running battles with anti-riot police officers. 

"I want to congratulate our police for being bold and ensuring that there is peace and ensuring that action is taken on all offenders so that we ensure that there is peace in Kenya and people's property is protected," he said.

"Kenya is the only place we call home and we must protect it  by all means."

The Head of State further condemned those who engaged in the vandalization of property across the nation, asserting that any sabotage of the nation's healing economy will not be condoned.

"The people of Kenya do not want violence, chaos, anarchy, or destruction of property and businesses. The people of Kenya have said we are a democratic country, we respect the votes of ordinary citizens and when the people of Kenya have spoken it is like God has spoken," he said.

"There is no way we are going to change what our democracy stands for and what our country stands for. All of us must protect our country and every Kenyan has said that we cannot sabotage our economy using violence."

The aftermath of the day-long protests saw a total of 5 people being killed among them 2 in Nairobi,1 in Makueni (Emali), 1 in Nakuru, 1 in Migori and 1 in Kisumu (Nyamasaria).

38 injuries were also reported including 12 in Migori (5 gunshots and 7 soft tissue injuries), 9 in Nakuru (8 gunshots and cut injuries), 5 in Siaya (gunshots), 9 in Kisumu (gunshots), 1 in Kibra (gunshot) and 2 in Mathare (gunshots). 

Three hundred people were also arrested among them 10, in Kisii, 5 in Nyamira, 30 in Nairobi, 37 in Nakuru, 3 in Mombasa and 4 in Siaya.

Ruto's sentiments come after the United Nations censured local authorities for what they termed as use of deadly force to stamp out anti-government demonstrations across the country.

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence, on July 14, noted that the organization was “very concerned by the widespread violence, and allegations of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including the use of firearms, by police during the Azimio-led protests.”

In a rejoinder on Wednesday, Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua labeled the UN statement as inaccurate and misleading propaganda designed to deny Kenyans their democratic freedom.

Likewise, the Permanent Mission of Kenya slammed the UN for wrongly portraying and misinforming the protest, questioning their reliability on 'third-party' information sources, noting that it delegitimizes the quality of the data they used to censure Kenya.