President William Ruto is known to be eloquent, especially during media briefings and when attending interviews.
In most of his interviews, he always appears to have his facts at hand backed with examples which he's always ready to defend, a trait that has made him a tough interviewee for some journalists.
Despite his eloquence and knowledge of what happens around his government, some journalists have still been able to press him hard on certain issues of his administration and leadership.
Here are 5 instances when Ruto was hard-pressed during interviews
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on 30 June 2024, President Ruto invited veteran journalists Joe Ageyo (Nation Media Group), Linus Kaikai (Citizen TV), and Eric Latiff (KTN) for a conversation at State House, Nairobi.
During the interview, the president was engaged on various issues including governance, managing anti-Finance Bill protests, and alleged abductions by persons believed to be police in the country.
While engaging the president, Kaikai shared with the Head of State that Kenyans do not associate him with the truth.
"There are Kenyans who watch you and I don’t know whether you are aware that they don’t trust and believe in what you say. Are you aware that a lot of Kenyans increasingly don’t associate the truth with you?"Kaikai posed.
His question was followed up by Latiff, who took a more direct approach and asked the president: Before we came here, we asked people what questions we should ask you, and one thing that came out was, when will he stop lying? " he asked.
The president dismissed the claim, noting that it came from persons who never trusted him from the beginning.
"That is your assessment because you have never associated the truth with me from the beginning," he said in part.
On 9 July 2018, Ruto, who was then Deputy President had an interview with former NTV journalist Mark Masai on various topical issues including politics, corruption, and development projects in the country.
During the interview, Masai sought to know Ruto's net worth, but he evaded the question and instead asked Masai if he'd be willing to discuss his net worth.
Below is part of the interview as it appeared on NTV:
Masai: What’s the source of your wealth?
Ruto: How is that important to you?
Mark: Because many ask how you arrived where you are
Ruto: Would you want us to discuss about how much you are worth?
Mark: I’m nowhere close to where you are. Wouldn’t this be part of the lifestyle audit?
Ruto: When the lifestyle audit comes, William Ruto will be on the queue and I will be happy to make what I own public.
White House Joint media Interview with US President Joe Biden
On 23 May 2024, President William Ruto and U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the media in a joint press conference at the White House.
During the press conference, Citizen TV journalist Ayub Abdikadir put President Ruto to task over the decision to send Kenyan police officers to Haiti, yet some parts of the country especially in the North Rift are struggling with issues of insecurity.
In his response, the president noted that he made a commitment to Kenyans in the North Rift region and is on course to fulfilling it.
"I made a commitment to the people of Kenya to sort out insecurity in the North Rift. I have followed that with action. As we speak, there are 3,000 military officers and 2,000 police officers in the North Rift. We have renovated the first 15 schools and completed them. We have reopened 20 schools that were closed in the North Rift, and that exercise is ongoing," he explained.
State House Round-table - December 2023
On 17 December 2023, the president held a roundtable media interview at State House, Nairobi where he engaged with journalists from several media houses in the country.
One of the journalists was Citizen TV's Sam Gituku who bodly and wittingly took the president on in regards to the controversial housing levy.
Here is a snippet of the interview:
Sam Gituku: Mr. President did Kenyans tell you they want a levy?
William Ruto: No. They told me they wanted jobs.
Sam Gituku: But when the same people told you they don't want it, you changed it from a housing fund to tax that you can't recoup.
The president then responded by indicating that Sam was trying to find fault in the housing project without considering the befits of the project.
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