Ruto dismisses photo of child shot 8 times in Rongai, says incident happened years ago

President William Ruto on Friday disputed reports of a young child sustaining eight gunshot wounds in Ongata Rongai during the anti-government protests. 

Speaking during the Space Conversation hosted by influencer Osama Otero, President Ruto explained that the photos used dated back years ago to an incident in Buru Buru and did not reflect the situation at Rongai. 

He said that opportunists seized the peaceful protests to push their agendas.

“It was said that a young Kenyan was stuffed with 8 bullets, that is not true. The one that was said of 8 bullets did not exist. We found out that it happened several years ago in Buru Buru,” Ruto said. 

This did not sit well with Kenyans online who told the president to take accountability for the brute force used by the anti-riot officers on peaceful protestors. 

“The right to picket is enshrined in the Constitution. The protests were hijacked and I am sure the people who burnt parliament were not peaceful protestors,” he responded. 

“Honestly do you want to tell me the innocent protestors are the ones who disrupted businesses, burn down parliament? We need to protect protestors but also keep away criminals.”

Kennedy Onyango, a 12-year-old was reportedly shot eight times during the first week of protests. His mother, who spoke to Citizen Digital, said that her son was killed yet he was not part of the protests. 

"Mtoto wangu hakuwa na hatia, mtoto wangu hakuwa kwa maandamano , mtoto wangu hajaiba, risasi ni ya kuua mwizi, si mtoto wa 12 years," Kennedy's mum said. 

 "Mtoto wangu ndoto yake alikuwa ananiambia hii kuchora kwangu itanipeleka America, alikuwa anataka achore hadi achukuliwe already walimu wako na hiyo detail yake vitu zake zilipelekwa mahali sijui ni wapi.”

She explained that her son was picking a book he was sharing with a neighbouring classmate before he encountered his fate. 

“Alitoka shule lakini alikuwa na homework, akatoka kuendea kitabu kwa rafiki yake lakini hakurudi,” he said.

Ruto also dismissed reports of Githurai massacre, whereby over 200 lives were allegedly lost, saying that the families should step forward to ascertain the claim. 

“ It is good to be brutally honest and I will not ever say anything that is not factual, especially on a very serious matter. Are you saying 200 people were killed in Githurai? Really my friend, can the families step forward? 200 people is no joke. I am sorry to tell you that you have wrong numbers. Forget about social media,. Tomorrow I want to offer you to bring names to State House,” Ruto informed Otero.