NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 4 – At least one person died Sunday and several were injured when chaos broke out in Kenol, Murang’a where youths clashed ahead of Deputy President William Ruto’s visit.
The Tanga Tanga and Kieleweke youths clashed at Kenol on the Thika-Murang’a highway on Sunday morning, police said.
Murang’a South Deputy County Commissioner Mawira Mungania confirmed the fatality, and said more police officers had been deployed to quel the tension.
“One person has been killed and we have several others injured,” Mungania said.
Trouble started when youths blocked roads at Kenol, and started engaging rivals in running battles.
Police said they will investigate circumstances under which the person was killed.
Several vehicles were also damaged, as the main highway to Nyeri remained impassable for hours.
Ruto was scheduled to preside over a fundraising event in Kenol, at the AIPCA Church hosted by local Member of Parliament Alice Wahome. It is the second time Ruto’s visit to Murang’a has been marred by chaos.
The meeting, coming just two days after a statement by Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju that a resolution had been passed to evict Ruto as the party’s deputy leader, was no doubt expected to be the venue of high octane politics.
It was also expected to be a defining moment for Ruto’s support base in Central Kenya, where he has been accused of wrestling it from his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Last month, similar chaos were witnessed in Kisii on a day Ruto was set to hold a meeting with the youth, to popularise his hustler movement which critics see as early campaigns having fallen out with Kenyatta who is retiring in 2022 when his second and final term ends.
Ruto and his supporters are unhappy of Kenyatta’s close association with Opposition leader Raila Odinga who is seen more in government lately than Ruto who skips key state events.
Ruto sees the association, borne out of a handshake between the two leaders, as a ploy to lock him out of the 2022 presidential equation, and he has vowed to fight on, saying “I will defeat them.”
