Police officer hit me, Ruto insists

Isaac Ruto airlifted to Nairobi for treatment

What you need to know:

  • However, police said he was hit by a stone hurled by a member of the crowd that had gathered at the stadium.
  • Governors also condemned the attack as brutality by law enforcers who appeared to know no social bounds.
  • Mr Ruto, a vocal critic of Deputy President William Ruto, founded Chama Cha Mashinani after declining to join the ruling Jubilee Party.

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto was airlifted to Nairobi for medical treatment after he was injured at a football match on Sunday.

Mr Ruto narrated how he was hit in the right cheek by a teargas canister lobbed by a police officer who was trying to disperse his supporters at Silibwet Stadium in Bomet County.

However, police said he was hit by a stone hurled by a member of the crowd that had gathered at the stadium.

The governor arrived at Wilson Airport at 8am and was taken to Nairobi Hospital.

Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga said at the hospital that doctors had carried out tests to determine whether Mr Ruto would require corrective surgery.

“The injury on his face seems to have affected muscles and bones in his face,” said Mr Akaranga.

Opposition chief Raila Odinga was among the first politicians to visit Mr Ruto in hospital, where he was under the care of his wife.

Mr Odinga said the attack, at a public rally, was a worrying agenda of hate and intolerance that has been taking root in the country as the government’s way of dealing with dissent and opponents, whether real or perceived.

“The country must not be allowed to recede into the era of primitive use of State resources for the protection of partisan and illegal political interests,” said the Cord co-principal.

HARASSMENT

Governors also condemned the attack as brutality by law enforcers who appeared to know no social bounds.

“As the Council of Governors (CoG), we highly condemn the brutal and barbaric act of the police of attacking a duly elected governor, a head of a county government, in his own county,” said CoG chairman and Meru Governor Peter Munya in a statement.

Speaking from Malaysia, where he was on an official visit, Mr Munya said CoG will “not condone such acts in future” and called on the government to contain “its police that seem to be out of control”.

Mr Ruto, according to a statement by the Council of Governors, had tried to seek the release of youths arrested at the stadium before the situation turned chaotic, with police lobbing teargas canisters at the crowd, one of which hit him below his right eye.

“He was attending a church service at Njerian AGC, Silibwet Township Ward, when he received text messages of complaints from youths attending a football match at Silibwet stadium.

“The youths complained that they had been arrested by the police while others were being harassed at the stadium,” the statement indicated.

INTIMIDATION

After the church service, it stated, Mr Ruto went to the stadium to intervene and on arrival, a huge crowd gathered around him as he approached the police officers.

“An argument ensued between him and the police officers, before a handful of supporters joined him in asking the police to release the arrested youths.

“A police officer in uniform tried to hit him with [a] baton but the governor's security thwarted the move and a heated confrontation ensued before around 10 officers retreated and lobbed tear gas canisters directly at the governor,” the statement signed by Director of Communication Kiprotich Samoei stated.

Mr Odinga accused key leaders of the Jubilee administration of intimidation and threats against their political opponents, saying he feared things will take a more ominous turn as the country gets closer to next year’s elections.

Mr Ruto, a vocal critic of Deputy President William Ruto, founded Chama Cha Mashinani after declining to join the ruling Jubilee Party.

Recounting his ordeal, Mr Ruto said he had been attended to.

“I am experiencing a lot of pain on the face, but I am sure it will be managed,” said Mr Ruto, whose right cheek was bandaged.