Kenya’s President William Ruto popularity in regions of the country where his political star was beginning to shine was last weekend tested to the hilt and his security during routine whistle-go-whistle-stop tours questioned when a “shoe-missile” was launched at him in hitherto an opposition stronghold.

The Sunday attack on President Ruto in Kehancha, Migori rekindled memories of the October 25, 1969, when a group of angry youth pelted founding President Jomo Kenyatta with rotten eggs and stones during the commissioning of the Russia Hospital in Kisumu, which precipitated the shooting to death of nearly 100 people by police and military – although the official count was given as just 11.

At the centre of the violence was the murder of politicians. On July 5, 1969, then Minister for Econimic Planning Tom Mboya, who was shot dead in the capital, Nairobi, central business district. On April 30, tis year – some two kilometres southwest of the spot where Tom Mboya was killed and 37 days to the 56^th anniversary of his assassination – the Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were was felled by gunmen’s bullets at Mbagathi Roundabout, Ngong Road.

The motive of the killing is still unknown but politics has not been ruled out by his close associates.

As was the case when Luo youth attacked President Kenyatta with rotten eggs and stones in retaliation to the assassination of Tom Mboya and the dismissal of Oginga Odinga, President Ruto was welcomed with a “shoe-missile” in Migori five days after the violent murder of Were.

Speculation about the murder spread in Lake Victoria region like a wildfire, with allegations rife of assassination by the powers-that-be. The murder, according to the allegations, was intended to divert attention from a BBC documentary that places President Ruto’s government at the centre of the killing of 62 (police’s figure is 52) young Kenyans during last year’s anti-2024-25 Finance Bill protests by mainly the youths or Gen-Z or Generation Z.

Journalists suspected to be behind the BBC documentary were arrested last week, but were released 24 hours later on Friday without charges.

Investigations in Were’s murder are still at preliminary stages and so far five people have been arrested, pending arraignment in court. It is not yet clear whether the murder was an assassination or ordinary crime, although the police have unequivocally said the killing was premeditated elimination.

On Saturday – in a chilling reminder of the bitter rivalry between Jomo Kenyatta and his deposed vice president Jaramogi Oginga Odinga – the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Chair and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga alleged state involvement, hinting to a possible assassination.

“I want to say it here: The disinformation that has flooded social media is not by coincidence. It appears well-orchestrated and mobilised, possibly even funded, with the aim of diverting attention from the murder of Were. Were (had) said multiple times that his life was in danger. I understand that he even wrote to the Inspector General of Police. We need to hear what action was taken in response to those concerns. We will not take it lying down. We have counted one too many. Were was killed like a chicken, he was humiliated like a thief and he never stole from anybody. We don’t want stories and cover-ups,” Wanga alleged without naming any individuals or groups.

Political leaders from Kuria County in South Nyanza have condemned attack as ill-advised threat on the security of President Ruto, who was on development and meet-the-people tour in Kehancha Town, Migori County. The leaders termed the incident as isolated and misguided despite trending on the social media as well as in the mainstream media.

President Ruto parried the “shoe-missile” with his left hand. The “launcher” of the missile has not been identified although some youth have been arrested for questioning. Like Jomo Kenyatta in 1969, President Ruto is on a three-day development tour in Migori County where he is expected (again, like Kenyatta in 1969 to officiate at various development projects.

In 1969, four months after the assassination of Tom Mboya outside a Nairobi pharmacy on July 5,1969, President Jomo Kenyatta made a two-day historic official tour of Western and Nyanza provinces to familiarise himself with the development projects.

Kisumu was Kenyatta’s last stop in Nyanza where he was scheduled to open the New Nyanza General Hospital. The 1.2 million pound hospital had been built with USSR (Union of the Soviets Socialist Republic) aid. The president’s entourage arrived in the outskirts of Kisumu town to be welcomed by stone throwing youth lining up the sides of the highway shouting Ndume! Ndume! (Bull) as the motorcade snaked into Kisumu. Police had opened fire sending the youth scampering with gun wounds. Those caught were thoroughly beaten by the security.

In a press briefing on Monday, 20 hours after the shoe-missile incident, leaders from South Nyanza described the incident as unfortunate, happening barely minutes after he had just launched an affordable housing project within Kehancha Town.

Led by Principal Secretary for Social Protection and Senior Citizens Joseph Motari and local leaders have distanced themselves from the incident they said was an isolated case and assured it the government will not happen against.

Motari confirmed that as leaders and as a community, nobody had prior knowledge of the plans to attack the president or humiliate him. They vowed to collaborate with investigators to unearth the truth about the attack, plus the people or group behind it.

“We are determined to get to the bottom of this matter and whose hands were involved and the motive behind it. It is very unfortunate that this happened when the president was making his first visit to this area and met with such detestable act,” Motari explained.

Further, the principal secretary alleged that drunkards are suspected to have pelted the president.

Motari pledged that hawk-eyed and alert security agencies in the region would conclusively deal with matter. He, however, refuted the possibility of supremacy battles between two local leaders who allegedly mobilised hundreds of their supporters to attend the president’s rallies to demonstrate their political might.

He warned that should any leader be found to have had a hand in the humiliation of the president, then he would be dealt with according to the law and community practices.

Migori County Deputy Governor Joseph Mahiri apologised to the president and the country in general. He said the attacks should not be perceived as rejection of the president by the entire Kuria community, but just a few misguided individuals.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Polycarp Ochieng and George Agimba

Principal Secretary for Social Protection and Senior Citizens Joseph Motari (white shirt), Migori County Deputy Governor, Dr Joseph Mahiri, (left) talking to the press condemning attack on President Ruto. Photo by Polycarp Ochieng.

 Principal Secretary for Social Protection and Senior Citizens, Joseph Motari (white shirt), Migori County Deputy Governor Dr Joseph Mahiri (left) and other leader from Kuria community during a press briefing to condemn attack on President Ruto in Kehancha town yesterday. They have distanced themselves from the incident citing it an isolated and not a coordinated ordeal. Photo by Polycarp Ochieng.