Kenya's President William Ruto has said his government "will not surrender" the country's democracy to "faceless, formless, anonymous anarchists" who are "sponsoring violence" in Kenya.
His remarks come as more protests are scheduled for Tuesday after Ruto announced his partial cabinet, retaining six members of his dismissed cabinet.
The retention of six cabinet members has triggered yet another round of protests, with planners of the demonstrations accusing the president of rehiring people who "mismanaged" the country, resulting in the recent deadly protests that have killed more than 50 people.
The recent protests in Kenya had started off peacefully to express concern over tax hikes, but they turned violent and deadly thereafter.
'Tyranny of violence'
Ruto says the now almost-weekly protests are being sponsored by "faceless" people who are out to destabilise the East African nation.
Speaking at a church function in Kenya's Rift Valley county of Bomet on Sunday, Ruto said: "We must never, as a country, agree to replace our democracy with a dictatorship and tyranny of faceless, anonymous people, who want to use violence, destruction of property and loss of lives in place of democracy."
He added: "We must guard the peace and stability of our nation and the democracy of our country so that it is not undermined and it is not sabotaged by anonymous, faceless, formless, sponsored people who want to use violence, anarchy and mayhem to control our nation."
The president further said his government will be "firm and determined to protect this country from the tyranny of violence, mayhem and anarchy."
'Step forward'
Ruto challenged the people he says are out to destabilise Kenya by "funding the violence" to "step forward and give us their alternative views on how to take Kenya forward. They must not remain anonymous. They must not remain formless, or faceless, they must step forward, and tell us beyond anarchy, and destruction, and violence, and mayhem, what are their alternative plans for Kenya?"
Terming the alleged sponsors of the violence "shadowy", Ruto said: "We cannot surrender our democracy to faceless, formless, anonymous anarchists who want to use violence, loss of lives, and destruction of property to destroy our country."
The president also had a message for the media, especially news organisations in Kenya.
Allegations against Ford Foundation
"I want to request the media to report responsibly. Reporting, celebrating, encouraging violence, destruction of property, anarchy, mayhem is irresponsible, and if the country goes the wrong direction, there will be nothing to report, and there will be nowhere to report from," Ruto said.
Ruto's administration recently accused USA's Ford Foundation of funding the protests, alleging that the organisation had disbursed $5.78 million to various groups in Kenya between April and May.
Ford Foundation however denied the allegations.
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