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Kenyan President William Ruto faced sharp questioning from angry anti-tax protesters during a debate on social media platform X.
He apologized for the first time for police violence at recent protests and the alleged kidnapping of organizers.
Last week, the president was forced to withdraw the controversial finance bill as protests rocked his term.
The protests were organized through X Spaces, a feature that allows users to have real-time audio conversations with others on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Mr Ruto’s X Space session titled #EngageThePresident started more than an hour later than scheduled. A technical glitch interrupted the debate which was supposed to last three hours.
But the discussion was candid, with more than 150,000 people listening — some calling the president a liar and accusing him of lacking empathy — and he responded forcefully.
He promised to remove all officials suspected of corruption, adding: “I agree that some of our officials are indeed extravagant and wasteful, and I personally called them and advised them on how to conduct themselves. I will do more.”
A state-funded human rights commission estimated that more than 40 people had died in the protests, most of them on the day lawmakers passed the bill last week.
But in a conversation on X Space, Mr Ruto accused some “reckless” people of exaggerating the death toll in recent protests, saying it was 25 people.
The proposed tax increase is designed to help Kenya reduce its debt burden of more than $80bn (£63bn).
He confirmed that the bill had indeed been withdrawn – protesters feared it could still become law 21 days after it was passed by parliament. But the president defended many of the proposals, saying many of them had been misinterpreted and were meant to boost Kenyan businesses.
The demonstrations have since evolved into calls for Ruto’s resignation and justice for the killings of protesters by security forces.
Earlier, Ruto’s daughter Charlene took to Twitter to announce the three-hour opportunity to speak directly with the president: “Young people, a golden opportunity awaits you,” she wrote.
Some members of Ruto’s cabinet were also present at the X Space talks – though none of them spoke.
On the issue of police brutality, the president said he did not personally direct the police but would ensure that the watchdog agency conducted an investigation.
When asked about the topic, he urged people at the X Space conference to share photos and videos of an officer they called a “killer cop” who was shooting at protesters.
“I will look for this rogue policeman and make sure he is arrested,” he said.
The discussion was moderated by Kevin Monari, presidential spokesman and online content creator and a leading voice for the protesters, who recounted the president’s abduction by plainclothes gunmen.
“I promise to follow up on the (kidnapping) issue and take action,” the president said.
Several other protesters said they Kidnapped by government agentswas held for hours, intimidated, and then released without ever going to court.
In a televised address to the nation before the X Space conference, President Ruto pledged major spending cuts, saying the measures were necessary because a planned tax increase had been scrapped. The measures include:
- Dissolve 47 state-owned enterprises with overlapping functions
- Six-month moratorium on new car purchases for civil servants
- Suspend all non-essential travel by government officials
- Reduce the number of government advisers by 50%
- Eliminate budgets for spouses of the first lady, vice president and prime minister’s secretary
- Implement retirement age for civil servants at 60.
He expressed his condolences but said this “difficult period” was also an opportunity for the country:
“We are finally having the right conversation, not about our tribes, personalities or political formations, but about issues that affect every one of us: issues like taxes, debt, budgets, corruption, the cost of living, unemployment and opportunities for young people.”
He reiterated this sentiment during the X Space conference.
But one user X summed up the mood of the protesters with this comment: “Why do you have to remain silent until things get out of control? It’s obvious that our lives don’t matter to you?”
In a departure from the combative and defensive tone displayed in his previous speeches, President Ruto showed more contrition.
The 57-year-old manager deftly handled a situation that could have turned into a shouting match and was confident and friendly, addressing most people who asked questions as “my brother”, “my sister” or “my friend”.
Although many wanted to ask more questions, the president ended the debate by saying he had to meet with the Kenyan Olympic team before they left for Paris.
But he said he learned a lot in the X Space course and hopes to do more such courses.
In particular, he said the incident taught him the need to show more empathy for the plight of his fellow countrymen.
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