Ruto Ordered To Denounce Remarks Threatening To Kill Rai

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Eric Theuri has compelled President William Ruto to withdraw remarks made against billionaire Jaswant Rai and other sugar tycoons he accused of frustrating the sugar sector.

Addressing the press in Nairobi on Tuesday, August 29, Theuri also challenged the Head of State to apologise for the remarks made during his tour of Western Kenya on Monday, August 28 where he challenged the individuals, he argued were cartels, to either flee the country, risk jail terms or 'go to heaven'.

The LSK President also demanded that Ruto keep off from making roadside statements dragging individuals into criminal activities and to let the court system take its course.

"The demand that we want to make to the President is to not only withdraw and apologise for those very unfortunate remarks but to also allow the due process of law to take its course to its logical conclusion," he added.

LSK president, Eric Theuri. /TV47 DIGITAL

"To interfere in those processes (of the law) before the court has made its determination is to undermine the rule of law and the authority of the court as an independent arbitrar."

While making the remarks, Ruto affirmed that he would not allow the individuals to bring down the sugar industry when he was making inroads to revive it and regulate it in the process.

"There are cartels there. I have told them to leave. The company belongs to the people and we shall streamline it. There is no case there.

"If they want a fight, they should leave Kenya or I will jail them or they should go to heaven," he told a cheerful crowd in Nzoia, Bungoma County. 

Meanwhile, Theuri affirmed that he would stand by lawyers who have been representing Rai and other sugar tycoons and ensure that proper channels are followed in the case.

He claimed that the lawyers had been threatened by unknown individuals while standing by their commitment to upholding the values they obtained when they swore to deliver fair justice.

"There have been attempts to intimidate the lawyers who were handling these cases on behalf of the parties that are before the court," stated the LSK President.

"As the LSK, we remind them that they took oath to deliver justice without fear or favour. We assure them that LSK will support them in the event that they are intimidated as they undertake their duties."

Theuri also accused Ruto of reneging on his promises to crack down on rogue police squads allegedly involved in extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances moreso during the previous administration, reminding him that he disbanded the squads the moment he took office on September 13, 2022.

According to Theuri, the Head of State was seen to have expressed the willingness to return to the very methods he had criticised, to achieve his goal by any means necessary.

"What we are concerned about is that he has done an absolute 360 turn. He is no longer keen to seek accountability. On the other hand, he is more than willing and ready to use the same methods to achieve whatever aims that they have," Theuri lamented.

"We are making a passionate appeal to the President to observe their powers and exercise their powers within the four corners of the Constitution."

Ruto's death threats to sugar tycoons rattled some opposition leaders who intimated that the remarks reeked of signs of a return of public execution.

"I would like to sincerely plead with our President, his actions and utterances mean something. When a President stands up and talks about an individual, that individual, whether he has broken the law or not, is put in a position where I see unfairness," stated Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka while speaking on Citizen TV.

"We must protect due process very vigilantly. If someone has broken the law, let him go through the process. Let the President not be the person who makes announcements in public where he is accusing an individual because then he is trying this individual in advance."