President William Ruto on Wednesday broke his silence regarding the abduction of Kenyans in relation to the anti-Finance Bill, 2024 protests and the loss of lives witnessed on Tuesday as Kenyans demonstrated against attempts by the government to bulldoze the now shelved piece of legislation.
Speaking on Wednesday the President acknowledged that 6 people had lost their lives after violence escalated as Kenyans overpowered the police and forced their way into Parliament buildings.
“6 people lost their lives yesterday, it's a very unfortunate situation that I wish would not have happened," the President who was flanked by Kenya Kwanza lawmakers at State House, Nairobi stated.
The President while extending his condolences, regretted the chaos conceding that the entire situation, which became global news could have been handled better.
Ruto further ordered that the group of Kenyans who have been allegedly abducted by security officers be released unconditionally and no charges be preferred against them.
In terms of the number of people who had suffered injuries, the President stated that 95 people had been treated and released from various hospitals. The Head of State revealed that a further 14 are in the hospital with one in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a hospital which was not revealed.
The President further reaffirmed his commitment to zero tolerance on extra-judicial killings underscoring that since he assumed office as he claimed, the Kenya Kwanza administration had not recorded any such incident.
However, despite the President's assurances social media reports still indicated that several prominent social media users, reportedly abducted and held incommunicado had not been released.
This came even as Kenyans launched a noble initiative, rallying together to raise funds for victims of police brutality as well as their families.
By Wednesday evening, Ksh 11 million had been raised surpassing the Ksh10 million target which had been set over a period of 27 days.
Organisers explained that part of the funds would be sent to the families of some of the deceased while another chunk would be channeled to cater to the medical bills of hospitalised protestors.
