MP Chikati urges Kenyans to credit Ruto for taking steps to end abductions
Tongaren MP John Chikati has come to the defence of President William Ruto following his recent admission that abductions have occurred under his administration, urging Kenyans to recognise Ruto’s commitment to ending the practice.
Speaking during a media interview on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, Chikati addressed concerns over Ruto’s apparent shift from initially denying knowledge of abductions, which many saw as a refusal to acknowledge a mounting human rights issue.
The Tongaren legislator argued that the president, like any other leader, relies on reports from state institutions, suggesting that initial denials may have stemmed from incomplete intelligence briefings rather than deliberate misinformation.
“While I’m not a very expert in security matters, I want to comment that the president receives reports from different arms of government on security issues,” Chikati said.
“Probably at the time the president was saying he did not have that information on the kidnaps, he did not get proper information from the security arms. Or they had not yet gathered proper information on that,” he added.
Concrete steps
The MP framed Ruto’s recent assurance that there would be no more abductions as evidence of concrete steps being taken at the highest level to address the issue.
“The president coming up and saying yesterday that there will be no further abductions means that he has put in place mechanisms and all issues around that so that future incidents of kidnaps do not occur,” he explained.
He expressed frustration that the acknowledgement of systemic failures and commitment to reform has not been sufficiently appreciated by critics.
“We need to give him credibility on the fact that he has said that there was a loophole. There was a gap. He has noticed, and it will not happen again. And nobody wants to give him that credit. But we also need to give him that credit,” Chikati insisted.
Structural challenges
Pressed on what action should follow Ruto’s remarks, given the seriousness of past disappearances, some of which reportedly ended in death, Chikati pointed to structural challenges within the security sector.
“You can see from what the president said and from what NIS Director Noordin Haji presented to parliament that there needs to be an increase in budgetary allocation in security units,” Chikati stated.
He noted that security lapses were partly due to underfunded agencies and insufficient resources.
“Probably that is one of the strategies. And Haji said very well that we don’t need to do that. Without a budgetary increase, the country is exposed, both internally and externally. Probably that’s what we need to understand. To beef up security internally, you need a lot of money,” he added.
Caution
The lawmaker further cautioned against politicising national security matters, saying that sustained attacks on the presidency could undermine efforts to stabilise the country.
“It’s not just a question of President Ruto alone. It’s not a question of putting pressure on the president every time. He needs peace of mind also to work,” Chikati remarked.
He appealed for political unity and responsible public discourse.
“It is a question of Kenyans working together, really, even as politicians. The way we speak and the way we talk to the public should not be discussions that raise political temperatures. We also have to participate in that. So all this has been bringing animosity within the country,” he said.
