Kenya is bleeding. What began as peaceful protests against the spiraling cost of living,
joblessness, and betrayal of campaign promises has escalated into a national crisis. The
government of President William Ruto is not simply responding with heavy-handedness—it is
actively weaponizing state power against its citizens. What we are witnessing is not governance.
It is systemic, institutionalized violence.
The Ruto regime has turned state machinery into instruments of terror. Police brutality is not an
accident, it is a policy. Peaceful demonstrators are met with bullets, tear gas, and arbitrary
detention. Armed goons, allegedly sponsored by state operatives, are infiltrating protests,
destroying businesses, and torching public property—not to maintain order, but to justify a brutal
crackdown.
Let’s be clear: phones do not kill people. Protesters do not torch police stations. These acts of
terror are not spontaneous. They are planned, executed, and protected by the state. Mr. President,
these are not faceless mobs. These are your proxies, your hired hands, enabling you to turn
national grief into a political weapon. And there is ample evidence to support this claim.
The Strategy of Fear
President William Ruto, once celebrated as a “hustler” who championed the common citizen, has
now revealed the full machinery of a strongman regime. He is not simply presiding over
violence, he is orchestrating it.
When you declare peaceful protesters "terrorists," but fund and protect the real perpetrators of
violence, you are not fighting terror, you are committing it. Mr. Ruto is no longer a symbol of
reform; he has become the chief architect of state terror. His moral authority to lead is gone.
Eyewitness accounts and media footage from Nairobi and Mt. Kenya towns expose a horrifying
truth: dozens of young people shot dead in cold blood, mothers clutching children as they flee
clouds of tear gas, communities under siege. The security forces involved are not rogue. They are
organized, coordinated, and protected by top leadership. They are executing orders.
When the President tells police to "shoot protesters in the leg," that is not rhetoric, it is a
directive. The result is visible in the morgues, hospitals, and graveyards of this country.
Violence by Design
Equally alarming is the emergence of organized militia groups, reportedly aligned with the state,
engaging in targeted destruction of public property. Police posts, court buildings, even transport
infrastructure, all torched in a wave of coordinated attacks. These are not spontaneous acts of
angry citizens. These are false-flag operations designed to paint demonstrators as violent and
justify the unleashing of force.
In regions like Mt. Kenya, which have historically held political significance, covert militia
activity is being used to destabilize communities, intimidate dissenters, and crush any resistance
to the Ruto agenda. This is a deliberate campaign of fear, one meant to silence and break the
spirit of a people who have dared to say: “Enough.”
Ethnic Division: A Dangerous Playbook
Even more sinister is the return to the politics of ethnic division. Rather than unify a nation in
pain, the Ruto administration is falling back on tribal scapegoating—weaponizing ethnic identity
to divert attention from its failures.
We know this script. We have lived it. The 2007–2008 post-election violence was born from the
same toxic playbook. If Ruto’s government continues to stoke ethnic tension, Kenya risks
descending once again into communal violence. And this time, the consequences could be even
more devastating.
Kenyans across every region are resisting this divisive narrative. But the regime continues to test
the country’s fragile unity with veiled threats and coded language meant to inflame.
Institutions in Captivity
The institutions charged with safeguarding democracy, the judiciary, Parliament, and police are
increasingly captive to executive control. Judges are vilified. Police who uphold the law are
sidelined. Journalists exposing truth are harassed. Civil society is under siege. This is not mere
democratic backsliding. It is the consolidation of autocratic power. Kenya is now living through
a moment of state capture. And in a nation with our history, the consequences of unchecked
power are not abstract—they are deadly.
The Nation Must Respond
Kenya stands at the edge. If the country fails to act decisively, it risks descending into full
authoritarian rule or even civil conflict. The people are rising. From the streets of Mathare to the
hills of Nyeri, from Kibera to Kisumu, Kenyans are standing up. But resistance must be matched
with organized, national, and international pressure.
We demand:
An immediate end to the use of live ammunition against protesters
A credible international investigation into extrajudicial killings and disappearances
The disbandment of all militia groups and vigilante outfits linked to the state
Full restoration of the rule of law and institutional independence
The resignation of President William Ruto for gross violations of human rights
The International Criminal Court (ICC) to open formal investigations into Ruto's role
in orchestrating state violence
This Country Does Not Belong to One Man and his few henchmen
Kenya is not a dictatorship. It does not belong to one man, one party, or a small group of evil
selfish people. It belongs to its 50 million people. The presidency is not a weapon. The police are
not an army of occupation. And the constitution is not optional. The world is watching. History
is watching. And Kenyans will not forget who fired the bullets—or who stood silent as the blood
flowed.
The time for fear is over. The time for justice is now.
