William Ruto Removes Shoes In India, Walks In Socks To Honour Mahatma Gandhi

• President William Ruto paid tribute to India's political and social activist Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial in Rajghat
• The president removed his shoe to show respect to the fallen hero, an observation made by every visitor visiting the memorial
• Ruto also laid a wreath at the park and took part in a brief prayer conducted by the officials who accompanied him to the scene

Nancy Odindo, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics, news, and feature stories across digital and print media in Kenya.

President William Ruto has paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial park in Rajghat, New Delhi.

Why did Ruto remove his shoes while in India?

The president removed his shoes, as is the norm when paying homage to the Indian state leaders.

"Visitors are required to remove their shoes before paying homage to the leader. A ceremony is held every Friday to mark the day he died. There are two museums nearby that are dedicated to Gandhiji," India's Ministry of Tourism explained.

In addition, the head of state laid a wreath and joined officials in a brief prayer at the memorial park.

"Paying homage to Mahatma. President William Ruto of Kenya laid a wreath at Rajghat and paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi, "said Arindam Bagchi, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson.

Gandhi was a great political and social activist who led his country in the fight for independence against British rule.

On his arrival in India, Ruto was accorded a ceremonial welcome by Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after which he inspected the guard of honour.

"We are looking at how we can create partnerships in the space of rural development, especially agriculture. We'll be looking at how we can share in the manufacture of vaccines, both for animals and humans. We're exploring potential actions related to genomics. We will also be signing an agreement on the digital space. We have a lot to learn from this great country, especially in the digital space," said Ruto.

Kenya to emulate India's digital services

The head of state further disclosed that he had sent an ICT Cabinet secretary to India to benchmark the performance of digital IDs and learn how to digitise government services and other technological developments that the Indian government is proud of.

"We have already sent from Kenya our Ministry of ICT to pick up lessons on digital ID, digitising government services, and leveraging the enabler nature of technology in providing government services, which India has done very well. We will be signing an MOU in that space. We will also be examining various aspects of business to identify opportunities for enhancing the business relationship between our two countries.," he added.

High Court suspends implementation of digital IDs

However, on Tuesday, December 5, High Court judge Justice John Chigitia suspended the implementation of digital IDs, commonly referred to as Maisha numbers, until February 6, 2024.

"The leave shall operate as a stay, preventing implementation or further implementation by any person of the Respondent's November 1, 2023 decision to roll out or pilot the Maisha Namba, comprising the digital card, digital ID, unique personal identifier, and a National Master Population Register, before and without a data protection impact assessment per Section 31 of the Data Protection Act," Justice Chigiti ruled.

The ruling came after the petitioner, Katiba Institute, told the court that the decision would violate Kenyans' privacy rights and deny minority and marginalised groups access to government services.