Kenyan President William Ruto says he cannot be ousted from office through violence and anarchy, dismissing calls for his resignation by young protesters.

Amid widespread protests in the East African country on Saturday, Mr Ruto said Kenya has a constitution that stipulates term in office, and anarchy is not the way to remove him.

“If you want Ruto to go, look for a better plan; violence will not, anarchy will not. It will not sort out our country. Let’s be honest with one another,” Mr Ruto said.

He added, “If it is a question of terms, the constitution has already sorted out and settled the issue of term limits. You can either be one or two-term… You cannot have more than that. So what is this craze about terms?”

Mr Ruto warned political and religious leaders backing violent protests to avoid burning the country up.

“I want to ask the religious and political leaders who are encouraging this movement towards violence and chaos and anarchy… what is your plan?”

“If we go this route, we will not have a country. And the country does not belong to William Ruto—it belongs to all of us. And if there is no country for William Ruto, there is no country for you,” Mr Ruto said.

On Wednesday, Kenyan youths hit the streets to hold a memorial for anti-finance bill protest victims. About 16 were killed, and hundreds were injured after police clamped down on protesters.

Last year, the anti-finance bill protests forced Mr Ruto to withdraw the bill and sack some cabinet members to pacify protesters. About 60 protesters were killed during the protests that lasted over several weeks.