President William Ruto says he has no blood on his hands but admitted that 19 persons were killed during the bloody anti-Finance Bill protests that rocked Kenya in the past weeks. 

“I have no blood on my hands,” Mr Ruto said on Sunday. “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, in a roundtable interview with journalists on the backdrop of the anti-Finance Bill protests, lamented the destruction of properties during the protests.

“2.4billion property has been destroyed. The office of the Chief Justice has been burnt. The parliament has been burnt. City Hall has been burnt. We have 19 people dead,” Mr Ruto said. 

The president’s interview comes as Kenya youth trend #RutoMustGo as a result of the bloody protests that left scores dead. Kenyans on Sunday berated Mr Ruto, calling him a “hypocrite” and a murderer following the police shooting and killing of anti-Finance Bill protesters during the week.

For weeks, protests have rocked Kenya as citizens vehemently rejected the controversial Finance Bill despite proposing tax imposition on cars, phones, bread,  sanitary pads and other commodities despite suffering brutal attacks from police. 

About 25 deaths, 50 abductions have been recorded, according to Amnesty International, as police unleash mayhem on anti-Finance Bill protesters, injuring hundreds. 

On Wednesday, Mr Ruto bowed to pressure withdrawing the controversial bill after police killed 25 citizens, abductions over 50 and injured hundreds, while youths remained on the streets. 

But Mr Ruto, who had earlier in the week labelled anti-tax protest “treasonous,” refused to sympathise with those killed and injured by police during the protests. 

Amnesty International Kenya had also accused Mr Ruto of inciting the police to massacre citizens, calling for his trial at the International Criminal Court.