President William Ruto, on Sunday, admitted that 19 persons were killed in anti-Finance Bill protests that rocked Kenya in the past weeks, but insisted Kenya police have done the best they could do during the protests.

“I think the police have done the best they could. If there are any excesses, we have mechanisms to make sure that those excesses are dealt with,” Mr Ruto said, despite footage of police tear gassing and opening live rounds on citizens during protests against the controversial Finance Bill.

Asked if his applause for the police means he has no regrets about the abductions and no regrets about the killings during the protests, Mr Ruto replied, “Those are your words, not mine, please don’t put words in my mouth.”

In a roundtable interview with journalists on the backdrop of the deadly anti-Finance Bill protests that rocked the country in the past weeks, Mr Ruto admitted that “19 people are dead to the record that I have from security agencies.

“Very unfortunate. As a democracy, that should not be part of our conversation,” Mr Ruto said. “I have no blood on my hands.”

Mr Ruto’s interview comes as Kenya youth trend #RutoMustGo following the bloody protests that left scores dead during the week.

On Sunday, Kenyans berated Mr Ruto, calling him a “hypocrite” and a murderer following the police shooting and killing of anti-Finance Bill protesters during the week.

However, Mr Ruto dismissed, #RutoMustGo, a call for his resignation, saying “Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I have a job to do. Citizens are free to engage in discourse that they want to but those are the fruits and signs of a democracy.”