President William Ruto has reiterated that no extrajudicial killings will occur in the country under his watch.
He was responding to questions during a town hall meeting in Kisumu Thursday night where he said anyone with a missing relative believed to have been abducted during the recent anti-government protests should present the name of the victim for investigations.
“Under my administration, I do not want a situation where a Kenyan disappears. There were days when people were found – 20, 30 – in River Yala, executed. I want to promise the people of Kenya that under my administration there will be no Kenyans in River Yala or any other river or place,” Ruto said.
A resident had claimed that some demonstrators went to the streets during the Gen Z-led anti-tax protests never to return because they were abducted by people believed to be police or state agents.
The President challenged anyone with a missing loved one whose whereabouts remain unknown to date after they participated in the protests to forward the name to the Interior Ministry for further action.
“If there’s any family that their child or their friend or relative went to a demonstration, whether last year or this year and never came back, I want to know the names because I will take firm and decisive action,” Ruto said.
“As I talk to you today, I don’t have a name of somebody who has been abducted or disappeared,” he added, saying no Kenyan should be subjected to inhumane treatment because of their political stand.
Rights groups claimed that 50 people died during the protests while 413 others were injured as Kenyans poured on the streets in their numbers in June to protest against the impugned Finance Bill, 2024.
“Those found culpable, whether civilian or security agent, should be charged,” the Kenya National Human Rights Commission said in its report on July 16, 2024.
The number was separate from the bodies recovered from a dumpsite in the Kware area of Embakasi subcounty in Nairobi, where a suspect who has since escaped from police custody confessed to having killed 42 women and dumped their dismembered bodies into an abandoned quarry.
Ruto said the exact number of fatalities and injuries from the protests cannot be substantiated but a framework is in the works to ensure those who lost their lives or got injured are fully compensated.
“The Ministry of Interior is working, you know I assembled the Cabinet the other day, they are working on the numbers and we will see how we are going to work together on that programme.”
Ruto is in Nyanza region on a four-day working tour where he will traverse the counties of Migori, Kisumu, Siaya and Homa Bay.
The tour, which started on Wednesday, will end on Saturday.
