Outspoken lawyer Donald Kipkorir has hit out at President William Ruto for failing to address genuine concerns raised by Kenyans taking to the streets to protest.

In a statement on his X account on July 1, 2024, Kipkorir accused the president of overdoing his rhetoric on creating employment, imports, and housing – which according to the lawyer only serves to benefit the elite class while ignoring more pressing issues of corruption, and public theft, and tribalism.

“The country is saying they want a tectonic shift in the way politics is conducted. They want corruption, tribalism, public theft, and hubris by leaders to end. Instead, you state regrets that the Finance Bill was rejected,” Kipkorir said.

His comments come on the back of what seems to be a lack of understanding of the demands presented by protesters by the current administration as Ruto continues to defend his government’s economic policies, saying they are responsible for getting Kenya from the brink of economic collapse.

Ruto has repeatedly brought up the affordable housing program when talking about youth unemployment, and a suitable economy for businesses to operate in the country, referring to increased hotel occupancy due to a rejuvenated tourism industry – all the while ignoring demands by Kenyans to come up with measures to root out plunder and corruption within the government.

Ruto lacks empathy

Kipkorir went on to hit Ruto for what he termed as a lack of empathy towards Kenyans who lost their lives in the anti-finance bill protests, saying the president’s preoccupation with the number of buildings burnt and property destroyed over the lives of deceased protesters is misplaced.

“The Country has been & is waiting for you to lead the Nation to show empathy, remorse, and grief for those killed, the hundreds injured and abducted. Instead, you are talking about buildings burnt. How can you compare lives to buildings? The buildings belong to the Judiciary and Parliament, independent of the executive and they are not complaining.

“And are you saying the police are right in going rogue? You have refused to condemn the killings, shootings, and abductions of Kenyans. All these are extrajudicial actions by the Police.” The statement continues.

His comments come after Ruto’s presidential roundtable with the press where he reiterated the government’s intention to pursue and bring to justice protesters who he has labelled as criminal elements.

Ruto cited the intention of the protesters to overrun the armoury at Parliament, saying investigations were ongoing to track perpetrators of the attacks on Parliament, Judiciary and Nairobi County Government offices.

Maintaining an innocent pose on the extra-judicial killings during the protests, Ruto claimed he did not have blood on his hands terming the aftermath of the protests as signs and fruits of a democracy.

“How did the criminals know there was an armoury ta mausoleum in Parliament? I have a job to do. Citizens are free to engage in discourse that they want to but those are the fruits and signs of a democracy,” the president said.

The embattled head of state also promised to cut down on government spending in response to an uproar by Kenyans on government wastefulness, highlighting budget cuts that would affect his office, scrapping of the offices of the first and second lady offices as examples of austerity measures aimed at reducing government expenditure, aimed towards reducing the burden on taxpayers.

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