President Ruto denies being a Dictator

President William Ruto has dismissed claims that he is running his government in a dictatorial manner.

The Head of State said he does not control other arms of the government as they operate as required by the constitution.

Ruto, being the head of the Executive, said he can not decide for the Judiciary nor the Legislature 

“The President is not a dictator. I can not decide for the Judiciary, I can not decide for the Legislature. They make their own independent decisions. I can not decide for independent institutions,” Ruto said on Friday in an engagement with Kenyans on X-Space.

Ruto said even though he is the Head of State, he does not hold absolute power.  

He said Kenya is a democratic country, adding that a democracy has systems of checks and balances. 

Additionally, Ruto reiterated that when he took over power, he vowed to respect the independence of the police. 

“In fact the one act I did when I came into office is I signed the instrument to remove the budget of the police from my office. This was because the budget was being used to manipulate the police,”  Ruto said. 

The President said he did not want his office to make any decisions for the police. 

“I did not want my office to be the one to decide for the police on who to arrest, who to charge, how to pursue corruption. The police run independently. If you read the Constitution, the police are an independent institution,”  he said.

Ruto said no one who is not part of the police force gives them instructions adding they have their systems and mechanisms to keep the officers accountable. 

The President said that the police practiced restraint when they were dealing with Gen Z anti-government protesters. 

He however acknowledged that lives were lost during the protests. 

Ruto sympathized with those who got injured and are recovering.

“To the many others who lost their lives, I sent my condolences to the family,” he said. 

“The government will support all those who have lost their lives, and all those who have been injured.”