NAIROBI: Kenya’s President William Ruto on Friday apologized for the “arrogance and show of opulence” by legislators and ministers from the ruling party and promised action against “rogue” police officers who shot at unarmed civilians during deadly protests and the storming of parliament over plans to hike taxes.
Ruto, referring to what he called arrogant statements made by officials, said public speaking was “difficult” and some people make “mistakes” for which he takes responsibility and promised change in the conduct of officials.
Kenya experienced two weeks of unrest during which Parliament was stormed by protesters during a finance bill vote. The president was hosted Friday on the social media platform X by popular social media influencer Osama Otero, who said he was abducted on the night of the protests and beaten by police.
Ruto said he regretted the abduction and that he would take action, adding that “that is not right.” “You don’t deserve the kind of treatment you went through,” he said.
The president said the police are independent and not controlled by the executive branch of government but promised to ensure that those responsible would be prosecuted. “I am ultimately responsible because I am president, and that is why I said it was regrettable,” Ruto said.

During the storming of Parliament during a finance bill vote — which would have resulted in a tax increase if approved — legislators fled through an underground tunnel. Police responded by opening fire and several protesters were shot dead.
Ruto later said he would not sign the finance bill and communicated to Parliament that the proposed legislation should be withdrawn, but protests continued with calls for him to resign over poor governance.
Kenya has been plagued by corruption, with the latest case involving the sale and distribution of thousands of fake fertilizer bags worth millions of shillings by the agriculture ministry.
The president on Friday was accused of not showing empathy and not mentioning the names of those who died during the protests. He responded by saying “people are born differently.” But he added that he was scheduled to speak with the mother of a boy who was shot and killed during protests.
Ruto was accused of not acknowledging the correct number of those who died in the protests. He put the number at 25 while the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights said 39 people were killed.
An hour before the online engagement, Ruto in a televised address announced specific austerity measures that included the dissolution of “47 state corporations with overlapping and duplicative functions” to save on operation and maintenance costs.
He also “suspended” the appointment of 50 chief administrative secretaries that were challenged in court on the basis of the positions being unconstitutional.
The president also announced that the offices of the first lady and the spouses of the deputy president and prime Cabinet secretary would not be funded using public money.
The young people who spoke during Otero’s Friday engagement on X emphasized the need for the president to sack incompetent government ministers in a reorganization that he stated was “coming soon.”

MIAMI: Donald Trump distanced himself Friday from Project 2025, a massive proposed overhaul of the federal government drafted by longtime allies and former officials in his administration, days after the head of the think tank responsible for the program suggested there would be a second American Revolution.
“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump posted on his social media website. “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
The 922-page plan outlines a dramatic expansion of presidential power and a plan to fire as many as 50,000 government workers to replace them with Trump loyalists. President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has worked to draw more attention to the agenda, particularly as Biden tries to keep fellow Democrats on board after his disastrous debate.
Trump has outlined his own plans to remake the government if he wins a second term, including staging the largest deportation operation in US history and imposing tariffs on potentially all imports. His campaign has previously warned outside allies not to presume to speak for the former president and suggested their transition-in-waiting efforts were unhelpful.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast Tuesday that Republicans are “in the process of taking this country back.” Former US Rep. Dave Brat of Virginia hosted the show for Bannon, who is serving a four-month prison term.
“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” Roberts said.
Those comments were widely circulated online and blasted by the Biden campaign, which issued a statement saying Trump and his allies were “dreaming of a violent revolution to destroy the very idea of America.”
Some of the people involved in Project 2025 are former senior administration officials. The project’s director is Paul Dans, who served as chief of staff at the US Office of Personnel Management under Trump. Trump’s campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt was featured in one of Project 2025’s videos.
John McEntee, a former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office in the Trump administration, is a senior adviser. McEntee told the conservative news site The Daily Wire earlier this year that Project 2025’s team would integrate a lot of its work with the campaign after the summer when Trump would announce his transition team.
Trump’s comments on Project 2025 come ahead of the Republican Party’s meetings next week to begin to draft its party platform.
Project 2025 has been preparing its own 180-day agenda for the next administration that it plans to share privately, rather than as part of its public-facing book of priorities for a Republican president. A key Trump ally, Russ Vought, who contributed to Project 2025 and is drafting this final pillar, is also on the Republican National Committee’s platform writing committee.
A spokesperson for the plan said Project 2025 is not tied to a specific candidate or campaign.
“We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president,” a statement said. “But it is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to implement.”
The Democratic National Committee said the plan and the Trump campaign are part of the same “MAGA operation.” A Biden campaign spokesperson said that Project 2025 staff members are also leading the Republican policy platform.
“Project 2025 is the extreme policy and personnel playbook for Trump’s second term that should scare the hell out of the American people,” said Ammar Moussa.
On Thursday, as the country celebrated Independence Day and Biden prepared for his television interview after his halting debate performance, the president’s campaign posted on X a shot from the dystopian TV drama “The Handmaid’s Tale” showing a group of women in the show’s red dresses and white hats standing in formation by a reflecting pool with a cross at the far end where the Washington Monument should be. The story revolves around women who are stripped of their identities and forced to give birth to children for other couples in a totalitarian regime.
“Fourth of July under Trump’s Project 2025,” the post said.