NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s President William Ruto fended off a shoe thrown at him during a speech about the cost of living which has been a source of public anger, videos shared on social media showed.
Ruto has been compelled to abandon tax hikes and invite opposition members into cabinet, but discontent remains high in the East African nation.
On Sunday at the rally in Migori county in western Kenya, Ruto blocked the flying footwear with his arm and did not appear to be injured, according to three videos.
“We have said we are reducing the price of fertilizer, true or false?” he said as the shoe bounced off him, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said police had arrested three people, The Star newspaper reported.
Then U.S. President George W. Bush famously had a shoe thrown at him by an Iraqi journalist in 2008 in protest at the chaos following the U.S.-led invasion.
(Reporting by Hereward Holland and Humphrey Malalo; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Andrew Cawthorne)
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