How screaming woman disrupted Mudavadi’s speech at Ruto meeting

A woman attending President William Ruto’s prayer meeting in Teso on Sunday disrupted Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi’s speech when she screamed as she sought to access the pavilion where the Head of State was seated.

The President’s security had to move in quickly to ‘arrest’ the lady as she tried to get the attention of the commander-in-chief.

The screaming woman was, however, overpowered and lifted by the President’s security manning the podium occupied by members of the press.

The lady’s screams cut short Mudavadi’s address as curious members of the public hurried to find out what the drama was all about.

“Let’s get seated, the security team will attend to her and also ask what her problem is,” Mudavadi said after temporarily suspending his address.

“The security will report to us the issue with that lady.”

The woman was carried next to the Machakus primary school fence away from the President’s event.

The drama unfolded as Ruto attended an interdenominational prayer meeting at Machakus in his third tour of Busia county ever since he took over the presidency from his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta.

The drama was almost similar to another that happened to Ruto in March 2021 when he was deputy president during one of his tours of Busia County.

During the 2021 incident, after fundraising for boda boda riders in Budalang’i and Funyula, Ruto’s last event in Busia town was characterised by drama when a man wearing a black marvin had to be wrestled down by the then DP’s security team as he ran towards Ruto with a black chicken.

It was not possible, then, to immediately establish the intention of the man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. His movement was obviously in breach of security protocol.

Ruto had landed in Busia in a helicopter accompanied by MPs Malulu Injendi (Malava) and then Bumula lawmaker Mwambu Mabonga as well as today’s Teso South MP Mary Emase and had taken his seat at the pavilion as the crowd that had surged near him was being pushed back by security.

It was then that a man holding a black chicken swiftly emerged from the crowd and ran towards Ruto as he made his way to the podium to make his speech but the security team did not leave anything to chance.

Four of the officers manning the main pavilion ran past the DP as he walked to the podium, grabbed the chicken holder, pushing him down to create a way for Ruto to ascend to the main stage.

There was a commotion as more youth ran to shake hands with the DP as he made his way to the dais.

At the time, the man who was holding tight to his chicken was still on the ground.

He was eventually overpowered by security and the chicken was taken away from him.

He was freed as Ruto began to make his address.