Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura has condemned the incident in which a shoe was hurled at President William Ruto in Kehancha, Migori County.
In a statement on Monday, May 5, Mwaura urged members of the public to respect the presidency.
He termed the Sunday incident as shameful and demanded that action be taken against the perpetrators.
"The government strongly condemns the incident that occurred in Kehancha, Migori County. We must respect the institution of the presidency.
“Those behind this shameful act must be apprehended. What values are we teaching our children? Let us be patriotic, let us uphold peace,” Mwaura stated.
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Meanwhile, the Head of Creative Economy and Special Projects in the Executive Office of the President, Dennis Itumbi, has described the incident as a moment that got out of hand.
Itumbi noted that one individual had lifted his shoe, but someone slapped it away, and it flew towards President Ruto.
“What started as a light moment quickly escalated. As the crowd eagerly raised their phones to capture the President, one creative citizen without a phone lifted his shoe in jest, pretending it was a camera. Someone beside him, annoyed that the ‘shoe-cam’ blocked his view, slapped it away. Unfortunately, it flew forward… straight toward the President,” Itumbi stated.
In the incident on Sunday evening, President Ruto was forced to pause his speech briefly after the shoe nearly hit him on the face.
Security officers tasked with protecting the president quickly rushed to the stage and pushed the crowd away from the dais, but Ruto asked them to stop.
The police have so far arrested three individuals in connection with the incident in Migori. The officers are also pursuing more suspects over the attack on President Ruto.
