Ruto's blame games on protests and alleged sponsors of violence

To President William Ruto, a terrorist comes in many forms and pretensions. The terrorists' capacity to reinvent themselves is such that the President is not sure who to blame for fanning the protests. Since 2023, he has blamed former President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ford Foundation, Opposition leaders and now parents.

Last Sunday, the President claimed parents' failure contributed to violent protests witnessed in the country as he criticised Kenyans for ‘neglecting their duty to guide and discipline their children. This was his third attempt to contextualise the nationwide protests that have at times paralysed his government.

“Every parent, including me, takes time to parent my children — and so must everybody. The police are trained to deal with criminals. They are not trained in parenting. Let us not use, misuse or abuse our children by inciting them to cause violence or destroy property. Asiye funzwa na mzazi wake hufunzwa na...” he lectured.

On January 10, this year, the Head of State called for a society approach to monitor children and remedy what he termed "social ills and moral decay".

“Parents must be at the centre, making sure that not only are our children in class but also mentor them so that we can build good character and make sure that they don’t get into bad character with people who want to make our children citizens that will not be good for our nation.”

Ruto initially blamed parents in December last year when he urged guardians and mentors to play an active role in instilling moral values in their children. “The criminals we deal with are our children from our homes. It is our responsibility to guide them to ensure they do not become offenders,” the President said in Mombasa.

Last week, Ruto criticised politicians and religious leaders encouraging violent protests, saying they must take responsibility for the loss of lives and destruction of property.

“We will protect the property and lives of every citizen. People have worked so hard and taken loans from banks, only for some politicians to incite the youth and pay goons to burn people’s businesses and then blame the government,” he said.

He added: “How did we get here? If religious and political leaders are all participating in mobilising our young people into protests, what do we expect?”

At the same time, Ruto blamed opposition leaders for hijacking the Gen Z protests to revive their political careers, asserting that their involvement had derailed ‘a legitimate youth outcry into politically charged chaos’.

Dismissing claims that the arrest of several protest leaders and politicians was politically motivated, the President said due process was being followed and that those who break the law must face the consequences.

“Don’t tell us it is political persecution; it is what it is,” he said.

On July 17, Ruto accused his political rivals of fanning unrest for political gain, saying: “Do not listen to leaders who have no plans, who thrive on tribalism, hatred and incitement — those who orchestrate violence and destroy people’s property. “It cannot be that you are planning how to incite young people, how to pay young people, to burn people’s properties.”

Two weeks ago, Ruto’s aide Farouk Kibet claimed the money being used to finance the protests was sourced from the National Bank of Kenya by some former government officials.

“Hiyo pesa ilitolewa na wale majmaaa walitoka kwa serikali. Mimi nauliza watu wa Likoni, warudishe hizo pesa ama wasirudishwe. Hao watu wanatumia hizo pesa kwa uchochezi, warudishe wasirudishe?,” said Kibet.

During last year’s protests, Ruto accused Ford Foundation, among other international NGOs and civil societorganisationsns of financially supporting the protests.

"If they are going to sponsor violence in Kenya, if they are going to sponsor anarchy, we are going to call them out and we are going to tell them that they either style up or they leave." I want to ask Ford Foundation: What benefit do they get from funding chaos? If they are going to sponsor violence and anarchy, we will call them out. They either style up or leave,” he said. 

According to political analysts, the President’s decision to create narratives was informed by his style of creating a bogeyman and then inviting Kenyans to fights against it to win their sympathy. “The shifting narratives also point to a failed intelligence service because it is clear that they have different narratives they are associating with the protests. The fact is, nobody is funding the protests. They are cries of a section of Kenyans unhappy with the government," said Dr Kamau Wairuri, a policy researcher.

He added: “Ruto’s politics is focused on creating enemies. His approach to politics is to create an enemy and rally people to fight the perceived enemy. It is an old political script. He created a hustler versus dynasty narrative and galvanised people against his narrative.”

Former Senate Majority Leader Samuel Poghisio said as opposed to the President blaming parents and other issues, he needed to be compassionate and end police brutality.

“The President should be kind and compassionate as a parent himself. The police may not be good parents, but they should be good parents. He should not weaponise the criminal justice system; he should ensure that kidnapping ends so that Kenyans understand that he is a good parent," he said.