People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has sharply responded to President William Ruto’s challenge, asking, ‘How do I go?’ following widespread calls for his resignation.
Speaking during an interview on a local radio station on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Karua urged the president to step down along with his entire administration or face being voted out.
Karua’s interview came in the wake of growing “Ruto must go” sentiment on social media and in street protests, where citizens decry escalating corruption, police brutality, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, a high cost of living, and neglect of ordinary Kenyans.
Recently, Ruto confronted these demands directly, questioning the mechanism of his removal. “If it is Ruto must go, then tell me how you want me to go… Because we have a constitution in place,” he stated.
In her interview, Karua took no prisoners. She insisted that the president should resign if he truly respects the public’s voice.
“Take the same route you took to get where you are. You could resign; if you truly respected the voice of the people, you would have resigned by now, with your entire government,” she said.
“But because you won’t, whether in 2027 or earlier, the people will remove you. You may continue to kill as you are killing now, but you cannot kill everyone,” Karua warned, referencing state violence against anti-government protests.
Karua accused Ruto of displaying “legendary cowardice” by surrounding State House and Parliament with barbed wire before last week’s demonstrations.
She said this move echoed the tactics of dictators and further eroded trust in leadership.
“History has shown us tyrants… None of them have ever survived the will of the people,” she added, directly comparing Ruto’s approach to that of Uganda’s infamous dictator Idi Amin.
Reframing the issue, she told Ruto, “Kenyans have a right to fire you for gross incompetence, violation of the rule of law, and an attempt to overthrow the Constitution. If at all he has any respect for himself and the people, he should be packing his bags.”
Ruto, for his part, has dismissed the calls as empty rhetoric without a viable alternative, urging critics to “look for a better plan.”
However, Karua’s pointed response, which blends constitutional argument with a populist appeal, has intensified political tension and set the stage for a national debate over leadership, legitimacy, and the power of public will in Kenya’s democracy.
