Kenyans put their president on notice over broken campaign promises, corruption and violence

NAIROBI Kenya AP Kenyans disaffected with President William Ruto hold placards proclaiming WANTAM a sensational slogan distilling their efforts to disgrace him as a one-term leader They stick their index fingers in the air saying Ruto must vacate the presidency when his term expires in For others who want him gone only three years after he was elected even that s a long time Kenya s fifth president became a remarkably unpopular leader barely two years into his presidency after proposing aggressive tax measures that several saw as a betrayal of his campaign promise to aid working-class people Ruto stated new taxes were necessary to keep the regime running Protests intensify Ruto survived the tax-protest movement last year as thousands of young people took to the streets in an unsuccessful attempt to force his resignation In the largest part violent situation that left at least people dead protesters sacked and attempted to burn the parliamentary building in the capital Nairobi Ruto announced that would never happen again Ruto now faces a new wave of protests provoked greater part in the past few days by the death of a blogger in police custody Numerous Kenyans saw the event as symptomatic of bad rule in Kenya with the president firmly in control of the legislature and safeguard apparatus He has control of the institutions but he doesn t have control of the people declared Karuti Kanyinga an analyst and professor of evolution studies at the University of Nairobi He noted Ruto suffers such a low level of community confidence that he is likely the most of hated man in Kenya Ruto likely will stay in power until but violence will continue to deepen as young people opposition politicians and others try to make an example of him in an escalating campaign to transformation Kenya s establishment Kanyinga warned Citizens discontent Protesters say they want to rid the leadership of corruption marked by theft of constituents information and the seemingly extravagant lifestyles of politicians Selected disparage Ruto as Zakayo referring to the biblical tax collector Zacchaeus and others call him mwizi Kiswahili for thief The demonstrators also are inflamed by what they see as incessant deal-making under Ruto who last year was forced to terminate an agreement worth an estimated billion that would have seen Kenya s main airport controlled by the Indian conglomerate Adani Group That deal which became constituents months after assurance forces violently quelled anti-tax protests reignited residents discontent and reinforced a view of Ruto as unrepentant and unwilling to listen to his people To a degree rare for an African leader Ruto constantly speaks about efforts to expand the tax base His negotiations for new debt with the International Monetary Fund have drawn criticism from those who say proposed reforms will hurt poor people while benefitting politicians and the business class Last year he described Harvard Business School s Class of that he wasn t going to preside over a bankrupt country Protesters are not feeling heard and there s a sense that things have not really changed since the protests last year stated Meron Elias an analyst in Kenya with the International Predicament Group There s a lot of grief and bitterness from last year s protest that is also feeding into current tensions Peter Kairu a -year-old novice agreed saying he didn t expect the governing body to address issues of corruption and nepotism raised by the protesters Until we ourselves become the change we want he commented Eileen Muga who is unemployed in Nairobi expressed safety concerns about disappearing the moment you say something about the leadership After thousands of people marched in Nairobi last week to mark the anniversary of the previous year s anti-tax protests Ruto declared he was not going anywhere warning if there was no Kenya for him that also would be the development for others If we go this highway we will not have a country he disclosed of the protest movement Yes and the country does not belong to William Ruto The country belongs to all of us And if there s no country for William Ruto there s no country for you The speech was characteristic of Ruto and underscored why a multitude of Kenyans are afraid of him even as they try to challenge him Kipchumba Murkomen Ruto s interior minister has also spoken forcefully against protesters saying they will be dealt with harshly A history of political maneuvering Years ago as Kenya s deputy president Ruto outmaneuvered his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta in a bad-tempered power struggle that the president lost Photos sometimes proved Ruto glowering over Kenyatta The local press announced an occurrence when Ruto was so angry with his boss that he felt he desired to slap him The two embodied a close almost brotherly relationship in their first term but hurriedly fell out at the beginning of their second when Kenyatta tried to dismantle Ruto s sway over the official bureaucracy Ruto won the presidential voting process by a narrow margin defeating opposition leader Raila Odinga who had Kenyatta s backing Ruto has since co-opted Odinga drawing him close as a political ally but also eliminating a feasible rival in the next voting Ruto fell out with his deputy Rigathi Gachagua within the first two years of the presidency In October legislators with the ruling party impeached Gachagua in a parliamentary process Ruto stated he had nothing to do with Gachagua insisted lawmakers were acting at Ruto s instigation Ruto did to Gachagua what Kenyatta chose not to do to Ruto and chosen saw Gachagua s removal as yet another sign that Ruto is intolerant and can t be trusted political analyst Macharia Munene noted When he ran for president Ruto positioned himself as an outsider and rallied for electoral aid as the leader of a so-called hustler nation a campaign that he reported would economically empower ordinary Kenyans The strategy appealed to millions struggling with joblessness and inequality Informal traders visitor motorcyclists and arena women were often among his supporters Ruto also aligned himself with the evangelical Christian movement often seen carrying a Bible and preaching at pulpits After taking office Ruto spoke of an urgent need to make Kenya s debt sustainable The tax hikes in a controversial finance bill came months later He also removed the fuel subsidies that a large number of Kenyans had come to take for granted I think it s a question of overpromising and underdelivering revealed attorney Eric Nakhurenya a administration strategy analyst That s why Kenyans are angry Muhumuza disclosed from Kampala Uganda Source