President William Ruto has stated that the opposition's violent protests in the country have little to do with the high living expense and are primarily about the elections.

According to the head of state, the azimio mass demonstrations are over the August 2022 general election, which has already been decided. azimio la Umoja coalition leader raila odinga claims he won the august 22 presidential elections.

PHOTO | COURTESY president Ruto

"The riots in Nairobi are not so much about the cost of living. It is so much about some election results which are a settled matter. But of course, because the cost of living is a pregnant issue, it is an emotive issue. Our competitors are trying to take advantage of it," said Ruto.

Speaking to Germany's DW, president William Ruto acknowledged that the country has several issues, including the high cost of living. He said he has plans to resolve the issue through food imports and by empowering farmers to increase the country's produce.  

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"We have registered 5 million farmers. We are providing fertilizers and seeds for them to grow. And we are importing food from across the globe where some of the imports arrived last week. We've cleared some of them to begin to tamper the price of commodities." Ruto said

 "We are also investing long term on irrigation and but that's part of the conversation I will be having with German officials on how we can work together to change our agriculture from being rain-fed to being an agriculture under irrigation," he added.

PHOTO | COURTESY president Ruto

When questioned about raises in taxes, which have been a source of contention for the opposition side, Ruto stated that his government had proposed no punitive tax increases.

The opposition, headed by Raila Odinga, has accused his government of raising taxes, exacerbating the country's high living costs.

In defending his administration, Ruto denied that the tax increase was related to a discussion between Kenya and the International Monetary Fund. 

"The IMF has no role in how we run the affairs of our country. We are in charge of the economy," he said.