President William Ruto once again came to the defence of police officers against claims of extra-judicial killings and use of brutal force during the anti-government protests.

The president who spoke in Lamu county at the start of his five-day working tour of Coast region instead said marauding thugs armed with crude weapons are to blame for promoting anarchy in the country by attacking the officers in the line of duty and engaging in wanton destruction of property.

“When you attack our policemen and security agencies, you are attacking the Republic of Kenya, you are attacking the constitution and the rule of law and you are promoting anarchy and destruction… That is a no go zone. That is unacceptable,” President Ruto said in the Mokowe area during the official opening of the County Commissioner’s office.

He dismissed the ongoing talks over police brutality as mere incitement saying a number of police officers are currently nursing injuries sustained during the chaos adding the status quo is not negotiable.
The tough talking Head of State warned organizers of the weekly anti-government demonstrations to “stop spoiling the country’s image.”

“As a nation we must agree on one thing. Whatever it is, whatever the politics, whatever the sides, we must agree that there will be no violence, no destruction of public or private property in the equation of politics of Kenya. That we must agree.

Whoever you are whatever your issues are, wherever you come from, whatever you are going, we must agree as a nation that in our political equation, there will be no violence, there will be no destruction of property, there will be no loss of life and our security agencies must discharge their mandate firmly, properly to make sure that they protect life and property. Public and private business of all the people of Kenya. That we must agree,” President Ruto noted.

President William Ruto ploughs land in Wembe Tana River County after the commissioning of on going rehabilition Programme of the Tana Delta irrigation Project. Dr Ruro also issued cheques to the fishing community in the county. REBECCA NDUKU/PCS