DP Ruto heeds Uhuru’s order, suspends political activities

Barely hours after President Uhuru Kenyatta banned large public gatherings, his deputy William Ruto (pictured) has announced that he has suspended all his public engagement until further notice.

While acknowledging the Covid-19 infection rates were on the rise, Ruto said that it was a serious concern for the state, therefore measures had to be put in place to contain the spread.

“With the President's announcement of containment measures, I forthwith suspend all public engagement until further notice,” he tweeted on Friday.

 Ruto is among the politicians who have been traversing the country holding rallies on Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and campaigning for candidates in the just concluded by-elections.

The Covid19 infection rates have become a serious source of concern making it necessary for GoK to take remedial measures to manage and contain the pandemic. With the President's announcement of containment measures, I forthwith suspend all public engagement until further notice.

— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) March 12, 2021

President Uhuru Kenyatta in his address today said that he was cognizant that the propagation of the coronavirus disease in the country has been fueled by political gatherings and large social gatherings.

He announced a ban on political gatherings for 30 days effective today midnight, as police officers were urged to enforce the measures strictly regardless of the political class.

“Today I direct that all forms of political gatherings be and are hereby prohibited for a period of 30 days effective midnight on this March 12, 2021,” he said.

While making the announcement, Uhuru said the pandemic remains a threat to Kenyans health and livelihoods, with positivity rate now at 11.9 as of Friday.

This is after 750 people tested positive for Covid-19 out of a sample size of 6,264 tested in the last 24 hours.

The country’s total infections now stand at 111,935 out of 1,358,390 tests conducted since March 2020.