Victor Ndede-Programs Director,Amnesty International<\/strong><\/p>\nNdede warned that President Ruto\u2019s utterances were deeply un-presidential as \u00a0such rhetoric not only distracts from governance and development but also deepens societal divisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president is a symbol of national unity as per the constitution. This is a person vested with power and the function of making sure that we protect human rights. This is a person with a duty to ensure that Kenyans are united. This is a person with a duty to ensure that ethics, leadership and accountability are values that he embodies and espouses as a president,\u201dhe expressed.<\/p>\n
Ndede argued said the president\u2019s involvement in the exchanges undermines the very role he is meant to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what has happened in the last two days, you cannot then say that that would be a symbol of national unity. It polarizes the country. It polarizes individuals. It polarizes certain ethnic communities,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd knowing how much we are far divided politically, those statements coming from political leadership as high as the president really serve against the good gains that we have wanted to make in chapter 6 of the constitution on leadership integrity,\u201dhe noted.<\/p>\n
According to the Amnesty International Programs Officer,the country is staring at a deep leadership crisis given the insults and mudslinging ongoing recently between leaders who are espoused to take lead in clinching the top seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at the comments that have been traded between these leaders and as much as there\u2019s the president there, there\u2019s a former deputy president who ran on a presidential ticket with the president,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the other people trading barbs, they are presidential hopefuls. And so if the dirt is at that level, you can imagine what dirt we will see at the lower levels, even to your MCA level of campaigns,\u201dNdede noted.<\/p>\n
Ndede expressed concern over the politicization of serious criminal allegations. He noted that accusations of rape, defilement, and murder are increasingly used as campaign tools without accountability or follow-up investigations, leaving victims without justice.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cSerious crimes are being converted into political rhetoric and that constitutes a violation of human rights and a disregard for the rule of law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Amnesty official also highlighted a worrying contraction of civic freedoms. Citizens who criticize leaders online, produce political satire, or engage in protests face harassment and arrests, as seen during the Gen Z protests in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18- President William Ruto\u2019s recent personal attacks on opposition leaders have been described as un-presidential, raising concerns about their impact on governance and national unity, according to Victor Ndede, Programs Director at Amnesty International. Speaking on the recent exchange of barbs between political heavyweights, Ndede said the country risks over a year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![<\/a>Victor Ndede-Programs Director,Amnesty International<\/strong><\/p>\nNdede warned that President Ruto\u2019s utterances were deeply un-presidential as \u00a0such rhetoric not only distracts from governance and development but also deepens societal divisions.<\/p>\n\u201cThe president is a symbol of national unity as per the constitution. This is a person vested with power and the function of making sure that we protect human rights. This is a person with a duty to ensure that Kenyans are united. This is a person with a duty to ensure that ethics, leadership and accountability are values that he embodies and espouses as a president,\u201dhe expressed.<\/p>\nNdede argued said the president\u2019s involvement in the exchanges undermines the very role he is meant to play.<\/p>\n\u201cBut what has happened in the last two days, you cannot then say that that would be a symbol of national unity. It polarizes the country. It polarizes individuals. It polarizes certain ethnic communities,\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cAnd knowing how much we are far divided politically, those statements coming from political leadership as high as the president really serve against the good gains that we have wanted to make in chapter 6 of the constitution on leadership integrity,\u201dhe noted.<\/p>\nAccording to the Amnesty International Programs Officer,the country is staring at a deep leadership crisis given the insults and mudslinging ongoing recently between leaders who are espoused to take lead in clinching the top seat.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen you look at the comments that have been traded between these leaders and as much as there\u2019s the president there, there\u2019s a former deputy president who ran on a presidential ticket with the president,\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cAll the other people trading barbs, they are presidential hopefuls. And so if the dirt is at that level, you can imagine what dirt we will see at the lower levels, even to your MCA level of campaigns,\u201dNdede noted.<\/p>\nNdede expressed concern over the politicization of serious criminal allegations. He noted that accusations of rape, defilement, and murder are increasingly used as campaign tools without accountability or follow-up investigations, leaving victims without justice.<\/p>\n\u00a0\u201cSerious crimes are being converted into political rhetoric and that constitutes a violation of human rights and a disregard for the rule of law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nThe Amnesty official also highlighted a worrying contraction of civic freedoms. Citizens who criticize leaders online, produce political satire, or engage in protests face harassment and arrests, as seen during the Gen Z protests in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18- President William Ruto\u2019s recent personal attacks on opposition leaders have been described as un-presidential, raising concerns about their impact on governance and national unity, according to Victor Ndede, Programs Director at Amnesty International. Speaking on the recent exchange of barbs between political heavyweights, Ndede said the country risks over a year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.capitalfm.co.ke\/news\/files\/2026\/03\/CFM06750.jpeg\"){kind=link}