Why Diaspora Kenyans want Ruto barred from Unga

President William Ruto lead Cabinet Secretaries and senior Government officials during the 3rd National Executive Retreat to review Government performance meeting held at KCB leadership centre on Thursday June 19. [Jonah Onyango,Standard]

Kenyans in the diaspora are now calling for the United Nations to deny President William Ruto the opportunity to attend and address the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), citing gross violations of human rights.

In a petition addressed to UN officials, Peter Ndiang’ui has urged the international body to bar Ruto from the meeting scheduled to take place from September 9 to 23, accusing the head of state of presiding over a repressive regime marked by abductions, extrajudicial killings and brutal suppression of civil liberties.

“Permitting President Ruto to take the UNGA podium would not only grant legitimacy to a government complicit in grave human rights violations, but would also constitute a betrayal of the core principles upon which the United Nations was founded; principles of justice, accountability, and the protection of human dignity,” reads the plea submitted to the UN officials.

According to the plea, Ruto’s government has intensified its crackdown on dissent, especially targeting the young people, activists and leaders aligned to the opposition, which has led to killings and disappearances.

“Since assuming power in 2022, President William Ruto’s administration has presided over a chilling increase in politically motivated abductions, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. Security forces, operating with impunity, have targeted journalists, opposition leaders, student activists, and human rights defenders,” reads part of the plea.

 Responding to Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen for allegedly issuing ‘shoot to kill’ orders to police, a directive President Ruto tried to temper by telling officers to ‘shoot in the leg’, a remark Prof. Ndiang’ui termed as ‘a grotesque euphemism’, showing disregard for life.

 Ndiang’ui has also accused Ruto’s administration of widespread corruption, opaque procurement processes and failure to provide social protection to struggling citizens:

 “While elites thrive, ordinary Kenyans are crushed under an oppressive tax regime, food insecurity, and unprecedented youth unemployment.”

He has also alleged multiple violations in the provisions of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other global human rights frameworks that Kenya is obligated to uphold by President Ruto’s administration.

These alleged breaches include suppression of free assembly and expression through police brutality and internet blackouts, arbitrary arrests, abductions and disappearances and failure to protect economic and social rights of ordinary citizens.

They have also called for the launch of an independent fact-finding mission into Kenya’s human rights situation and demanded justice for victims of state-sanctioned violence.

They have also urged the United States to deny visas to President Ruto and senior officials accused of violating human rights, invoking section 212 of the US Immigration and Nationality Act.