The parents of Billy Mwangi on Monday December 30, 2024 issued a heartfelt apology to President William Ruto over their son’s controversial online activity.

Mwangi, a young Kenyan believed to have been abducted, gained attention for his posts on X (formerly Twitter), which included AI-generated images of the President portrayed in a negative light.

In an emotional video shared by one of Billy’s close friends, his parents, Gerald Karicha and Regina Wairimu, expressed regret over their son’s actions.

They implored the President to show leniency and facilitate Billy’s safe return, emphasizing their readiness to address the matter within the family.

“We are very sorry to the offended parties over our son’s portrayal of the President in a negative way through the images seen on social media,” the parents said.

“If our son is in the hands of the government, we would like to request for his release. We will discipline our son accordingly and show him the right way,” they added.

Billy is one of three people who were kidnapped because they posted the pictures online; the other two were Peter Matuti and Bernard Kavuli.

Nearly a week after their kidnapping, Bernard and Peter’s whereabouts are still unknown, just like Billy’s.

Billy’s parents, who acknowledged that they were not aware of his internet activity, begged his suspected kidnappers to give their youngster another chance after his alleged error.

“We would like to categorically state that we were not aware of our son’s business online.

We did not have any idea that the boy was doing those things. Let them give him a second chance, release him, and then as his parents, we will have a sit-down with him,” Billy’s father stated.

“Mr. President, we are going through hell. Christmas came and went without us even noticing that it happened.

On Christmas day I went to buy medicine only to find Embu town deserted. That is when I realized it was Christmas day,” Gerald added.