Kenyan President Orders Police To Shoot Anarchist Demonstrators

JAKARTA - Kenyan President William Ruto ordered police to shoot the protesters in the leg after 31 people were killed in anti-national government demonstrations in two days.

"Anyone who burns someone else's property, such a person should be shot in the leg, and taken to the hospital on his way to court," Ruto said in a speech.

"They shouldn't have killed the man, but they had to hit his leg to break it," continued the President of Kenya.

On Monday, police blocked most of the capital Nairobi, and used tear gas, water cannons, and opened fire on the masses to disperse them. Several supermarkets, places of business, and hospitals were looted, damaged, or burned.

The death of a political blogger in police custody caused hundreds of Kenyans to take to the streets last month - reviving a protest movement sparked by anger over living expenses and what they call police brutality and corruption, a year after protesters opposing the proposed tax ascension stormed parliament.

The call among the protesters was that Ruto would become a one-term leader. Most of the demonstrators are young adults who desperately need job opportunities and live through social media channels.

Ruto came to power nearly three years ago as a poor warrior who vowed to end extrajudicial killings, but his government has responded to growing public dissatisfaction with a challenging attitude.

His Minister of Home Affairs, Kipchumba Murkomen, condemned last month's protests as a "coup attempt" by what he called "criminal ranarchical".

Kenya's government-funded National Human Rights Commission said the criminal gangs carrying caning and machetes appeared to be operating alongside police in Nairobi and the town of Eldoret in the Rift Valley during Monday's protests.

Police have not commented on the results of the commission's monitoring, but have previously said they are not cooperating with "premans".

"Those who attack Kenyans, police officers, security installations, and businesses are terrorists. Such criminal acts constitute declarations of war," Ruto wrote on Wednesday on X.

"We will not let our country be destroyed by underdeveloped elements seeking shortcuts to gain power," he said.