Sunday, July 19, 2026

Shoe thrown at Kenyan President William Ruto as he addresses crowd in Migori

Mr Ruto was almost hit on his head by the shoe hurled at him by an unidentified person from the crowd as he addressed them in Swahili.

• May 5, 2025
Ruto addressing crowd
Ruto addressing crowd[Credit:Instagram]

President William Ruto was struck with a shoe as he addressed the crowd at Migori County on Sunday.

Mr Ruto was almost hit on his head by the shoe hurled at him by an unidentified person from the crowd as he addressed them in Swahili.

According to local media, Kenyan police have made some arrests in connection with the incident that raises questions about Mr Ruto’s safety, following the killing of Charles Were, shot dead in a traffic last week.

This incident has sparked reactions to growing dissatisfaction amongst Kenyans against Mr Ruto, who rode on populist ideas to power.

It comes a few days after Mr Ruto lashed out at Kenyans, saying they love, are fixated on bad news, and are always eager to celebrate failure.

At a breakfast with students from PCEA Booth Girls’ High School in Nairobi on Thursday, Mr Ruto said Kenyans would rather celebrate failure than appreciate success.

“Kenyan people don’t believe in good news. People are used to bad news. It is very difficult for people to appreciate success. But somehow people celebrate failure,” Mr Ruto said.

Mr Ruto has experienced waning public acceptance after the Finance Bill proposing tax increments sparked fatal protests for over a month in 2024.

The protests saw Kenyan police kill scores of protesters. However, Mr Ruto had to sack all his cabinet members and scrap budgetary allocation to the offices of the first and second lady of the country in a move to placate protesters.

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