Time's up for Ruto, says Kalonzo

President William Ruto's administration is the greatest infamy that has befallen Kenyans since Independence, Azimio la Umoja co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka has said. 

He said the time was up for Ruto.

In a press statement issued in Kitui titled 'The state of the Ruto dictatorship in the wake of killings, severe injuries as well as the abduction of Gen Z anti-Finance Bill, 2024 protesters', Kalonzo said it was time for Ruto to go home.

He said Ruto’s dictatorship was not only an assault but also an affront to Kenya’s hard-fought-for and earned democracy.  

Alluding to the atrocities meted out to Gen Z protesters during two weeks of anti-Finance Bill, 2024 protests, Kalonzo said, “And, if it wasn't obvious before, it is now even clearer: Ruto must go home now!”

He threatened to proceed to the ICC to provide evidence of serious crimes against humanity committed by the Ruto administration against protesters.

Kalonzo lamented that Kenyan children were lying in mortuaries because Inspector General of Police Japet Koome – a Ruto appointee – executed a shoot-to-kill order.

“Koome and his subordinates ruthlessly and unblinkingly ended their young lives because they dared to use their constitutionally guaranteed right to peaceably assembly, demonstration and picket,” the statement said.

Kalonzo said it was regrettable that grandparents had been left looking for their missing grandchildren at police stations.

He said at the same time sisters and brothers were receiving information about their hospitalised siblings after they had received life-saving care.

“This is the state of the nation, in which fathers and mothers have been forced to identify the remains of their sons and daughters,” the Wiper party leader said.

He said far too many households and villages were either in mourning or in a heightened state of anxiety.

“The heartbreaking pleadings of our mothers, fathers and sisters seeking the status of their loved ones are rippling the air from Rongai to Nairobi, Machakos and Eldoret, Garissa and Mombasa, and all areas of the country,” Kalonzo said.

He said as a senior counsel, he would collect, collate and submit evidence of the Ruto regime's crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court.

“What Kenya, the region, Africa and the world have witnessed over the last two weeks is a citizenry uprising; one that will not be quelled by jest from a person they detest,” he said.

Kalonzo said Wiper will take disciplinary action against party MPs who voted in favour of the repugnant anti-people Finance Bill.

“We will remove them from their leadership positions in both the party and Parliament,” he said.

Kalonzo urged other people-centric parliamentary parties to follow suit.

“To our tribeless and leaderless Generation Zs who have braved the streets to preserve and defend our republic from Ruto, know that I have the deepest admiration and respect for you,” he said.

Kalonzo expressed optimism that the Gen Z tipping point may prove to be Kenya’s saving grace, that would also secure the next generation and generations to come.  

“To our fallen Gen Z martyrs, you will not be forgotten. The stain of your blood now colours our flag,” he said in recognition of the youth killed during the protests.

The Azimio leader hailed Gen Z for rejecting the government's invitation to a 'Youth Engagement Forum for Inclusive Development'. He said they in effect rejected dictatorship.

“According to all reports, the leaderless and tribeless Generation Z has disregarded – with more than contempt – this embarrassingly inept sanitisation effort. They have rejected this dictatorship,” he said.

He said the Gen Z wanted nothing to do with Ruto and demanded answers about where their comrades are being detained and where the bodies of the slain heroes have been hidden.