Martha Karua to President Ruto: This is how to go

People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua wants President William Ruto to resign alongside his entire administration amid growing ‘Ruto must go’ calls from Kenyans on social media and in street protests.

This is in the wake of mounting frustration from Kenyans who say Ruto’s leadership has been characterised by corruption, neglect of ordinary citizens’ needs, a rising cost of living, police brutality, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary arrests of government critics.

The President on Friday brushed off the chants by Kenyans who have also already labelled him a one-term head of state, saying he won’t secure a second term in office come 2027.

“If it is a question of terms, the Constitution has already sorted out and settled the issue of term limits. You can either be one or two-term… You cannot have more than that. So what is this craze about terms?” Ruto asked.

“If it is Ruto must go, then tell me how you want me to go. What do you mean by Ruto must go? How do I go? Because we have a constitution in place.”

In response, Karua has urged Ruto to “respect the voice of the people” and go by resigning, failure to which Kenyans have the option of ousting him even before his term in office is complete.

“Take the same route you took to get where you are. You could resign; if you truly respected the voice of the people, you would have resigned by now, with your entire government, and go home,” the former justice minister told Spice FM in a Tuesday interview.

“But because you won’t, whether in 2027, or earlier, the people will remove you. You may continue to kill as you are killing now, but you cannot kill everyone,” she added, a reference to the rising cases of police killing anti-government protesters.

Calling Ruto a mimic of Idi Amin Dada, the brutal Ugandan military dictator who was overthrown in 1979, Karua says he won’t eventually survive what she calls Kenyans’ will.

“History has shown us tyrants and dictators who ruled through terror and none of them have ever survived the will of the people,” she said.

“Not even Idi Amin, whom Ruto seems to be imitating. Al Bashir had a very serious army but he still went down.”

In the PLP leader’s view, “power resides with the people” and Kenyans can “fire” Ruto for what she calls the current administration’s overthrow of the Constitution.

“Kenyans have a right to fire you for gross incompetence, violation of the rule of law, and an attempt to overthrow the Constitution. The law says you cannot establish a government other than by lawful means, but Ruto has overthrown the Constitution and established a rogue regime,” Karua said.

“If at all he has any respect for himself and the people, he should be packing his bags.”

She accuses Ruto of downplaying the youth-led uprising and “framing” vocal Kenyans and rights activists for protest violence allegedly meted out by state-sponsored elements.

Karua has criticised Ruto over the government’s fencing off of key premises such as Parliament and the State House ahead of last Wednesday’s protests to honour those killed in last year’s anti-finance bill demos.

“Dr Ruto’s cowardice is legendary; I have never seen a president barricade themselves in barbed wire during protests. Even Moi did not,” she said.

“That is not your house, Dr Ruto, it’s our house! If you barricade your houses in Sugoi and Karen, we will not ask you. If the State House is too hot, take a holiday to Karen and let the people visit their house.”

The President has called the ‘Ruto must go’ chants as empty rhetoric unless accompanied by a lawful and constructive strategy.

On Friday, he challenged critics to present policy alternatives that outperform his administration’s development agenda, which he holds is already addressing job creation and cost-of-living challenges.

“If you want Ruto to go, look for a better plan. Violence will not; anarchy will not. It will not sort out our country. Let’s be honest with one another,” Ruto, frustrated by what he described as incitement based on “hate and violence,” said.