Kenya, which is East Africa’s biggest economy, went into turmoil on Monday when citizens took to the streets to protest against the surge in fuel prices in the country.
Fuel prices in Kenya are largely controlled by the government, particularly the executive, since Parliament serves only as a stamping authority for the executive.
Fuel prices in Kenya are the highest in Africa, and this angered many Kenyans, who took to the streets in over thirty counties out of forty-seven.
During the protests, six people died at the hands of police bullets, while more than fifty were injured. Hundreds were arrested during the melee, which caught President William Ruto’s government flat-footed.
However, when all that was happening, President Ruto was not in the country. He was in Azerbaijan for a housing summit. In fact, the Kenyan head of state, instead of returning to the country after the conclusion of the summit on Monday, flew to Astana in Kazakhstan for a two-day state visit.
Many Kenyans are now asking whether Ruto is the leader that the country wants, since, during a crisis, he ran away, pretending to attend some meetings that he should have sent junior officers to handle, instead of roaming the world when his country is suffering due to bad executive policies.
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