Shoe hurled from crowd hits Kenya's president while addressing rally

Kenya's President William Ruto was hit by a shoe, which had been hurled from a crowd he was addressing in Western Kenya's town of Kehancha on Sunday.

A short video clip of the incident shows the shoe landing on President Ruto's left arm, while he was making his address.

The president's security team swung into action to protect the head of state, though the shoe had already hit his arm.

No official statement of the incident had been issued as of the time of publishing this story.

Development tour

President Ruto started his three-day development tour of the Western Kenya county of Migori on Sunday. Migori is located over 370 kilometres west of Kenya's capital Nairobi.

Migori County is largely allied to the opposition, which is led by veteran politician Raila Odinga, who unsuccessfully ran against Ruto in Kenya's August 2022 presidential election.

President Ruto and Odinga, who served as Kenya's prime minister from 2008 to 2013, have since entered into a cooperation agreement.

President Ruto's administration, which is serving its first five-year term, has on several occasions faced hostility from Kenyans, who decry high taxation and high cost of living since the former deputy president ascended to power in September 2022.