President William Ruto addresses residents of Piny Oyie in Suna West, Migori County after commissioning the sub county office on May 4, 2025.
Police in Migori continued to detain three people following a dramatic incident in which a shoe was hurled at President William Ruto during a public rally.
Paul Mutongori Marwa, 18, who is alleged to have thrown the shoe at the Head of State, as well as Ezron Muherai Mwita, 22, and Nicholas Sangonyi Mwita, 20, who authorities say were captured in video footage heckling the president, are in custody.
According to a report filed at Kehancha Police Station and seen by Nation, the main suspect was arrested alongside the other two, who were reportedly captured disrupting the president’s speech.
A police source said Mr Marwa, Mr Muherai and Mr Sangonyi were apprehended at a local bar in Kehancha Town. They are assisting in investigations.
Migori police bosses declined to comment, only stating that “the matter is sensitive and is being handled by officers attached to the presidential security unit.”
The arrest has stirred sharp reactions from local leaders, with Kuria East MP Maisori Kitayama defending the youths and calling for their release.
He accused online bloggers and a section of the media of sensationalising the incident and blowing it out of proportion.
"There were thousands of residents who attended the rally, but only one shoe was accidentally thrown at the president, " he told a local media station.
"These young men should be set free. What we are seeing is an exaggerated narrative pushed by people with ill motives. Let’s not criminalise youthful excitement," Mr Kitayama.
His sentiments were supported by Head of Creative Economy and Special Projects in the Executive Office of the President, Dennis Itumbi, who reiterated that what started as a light moment quickly escalated.
"As the crowd eagerly raised their phones to capture the President, one creative citizen, without a phone, lifted his shoe in jest, pretending it was a camera.
"Someone beside him, annoyed that the ‘shoe-cam’ blocked his view, slapped it away. Unfortunately, it flew forward… straight toward the President," he stated on his official Facebook account.
Mr Itumbi called on anyone with information about the owner of the 'shoe-camera' to reach him.
"A friend of mine Sam Mburu is offering a real phone for the 'shoe-cam' guy so that he can, in future, create content with a real camera. So he can channel that creativity into content, just like he wanted," he said.
