Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has issued a statement following the protests against President William Ruto’s Finance Bill 2024 that were held on Tuesday June 25 across Kenya.

Here is the statement by the former President:

STATEMENT BY H.E. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H, FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA.

My fellow Kenyans,

I come to you with a heavy heart. Saddened by the loss of lives occasioned by the current situation prevailing in our country.

It is the right of every Kenyan to protest as determined by the constitution we all promulgated in 2010. It is also the duty of leaders to listen to those they lead.

At this trying time for our Country I want to remind all leaders that they were elected by the people.

Listening to the people is not a choice but a mandate enshrined in the principles of our constitution and in the very basis and philosophy of democracy.

Leaders must know that the power and authority they have is donated to them by the people.

I therefore call for calm and for the leadership to show restraint and do the right thing by listening to the people and not be antagonistic to them. Violence on either side is not the answer.

As your former president, I have felt the weight and the difficulty of leading Kenya. I therefore pray for wisdom and civility to be established and for peace and progress to belong to all of us as children of Kenya.

Dear Kenyans, I stand with you and I ask our leadership to embrace dialogue and SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE AND NOT AT THE PEOPLE.

Protesting Kenyans storm parliament; section of Bunge on fire

I pray for peace and understanding on the part of each and every Kenyan and for all of us to remember that Kenya is bigger than one of us; there is nothing cast in stone that cannot be changed.

God bless Kenya

H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, C.G.H
4th President of the Republic of Kenya.