Crowds in Kenya’s capital Nairobi lobbed rocks and looted businesses as police officers fired tear gas in scattered violence during fresh anti-government protests on Tuesday following last month’s deadly demonstrations.

Activists have continued to agitate online against President William Ruto, despite his decision last week to withdraw a controversial bill that triggered what he has branded “treasonous” protests by Gen-Z Kenyans.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) on Monday said that 39 people had been killed and 361 injured during two weeks of protests — with the worst violence occurring in Nairobi last Tuesday — and condemned the use of force against demonstrators as “excessive and disproportionate”.

It is the most serious crisis to confront Ruto since he took office in September 2022 in a nation often considered a beacon of stability in a turbulent region. 

After last week’s bloody chaos, young Kenyans, whose protest movement has no official leaders, called for a new day of peaceful action on Tuesday, with leaflets posted online using the hashtag “RutoMustGo”.

But Nairobi’s central business district — the focus of previous rallies — saw sporadic confrontations on Tuesday afternoon. Police fired tear gas and used water cannon against groups of stone-throwing men, some of whom lit bonfires on deserted roads.

“Goons have infiltrated,” prominent Gen-Z protester Hanifa Adan posted on X.

AFP journalists reported seeing a number of arrests and injuries, although there are no official figures.

Several coffins, some covered with the national flag, were placed on roads by protesters, images on Kenyan television showed, before they were removed by officers.

Local politician John Kwenya told AFP that business owners shuttering their shops were “scared” of the “goons”.

“This is economic sabotage,” said Kwenya, a member of the Nairobi city county assembly.

Elsewhere in the country, local television broadcast images of larger marches in the coastal opposition stronghold of Mombasa, where a number of cars were torched, and Kenyan media shared video of at least one shop being vandalised.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki denounced what he described as an “orgy of violence”, warning that the government would take action against anyone engaging in “anarchic chaos and cruel plunder”. 

“This reign of terror against the people of Kenya and the impunity of dangerous criminal gangs must end at whatever cost,” he said.

On Tuesday last week, largely peaceful anti-tax rallies descended into deadly chaos when lawmakers passed the finance bill — a deeply unpopular move among Kenyans already suffering from a cost of living crisis.

After the announcement of the vote, crowds ransacked the partly ablaze parliament complex in central Nairobi as police fired live bullets at protesters.

Although Ruto scrapped the legislation and appealed for dialogue with young Kenyans, his actions appear not to have appeased his critics.

In a television interview on Sunday he defended his decision to call in the military to tackle unrest and insisted he did not have “blood on my hands”. 

In the Rift Valley town of Nakuru on Tuesday, protesters marched peacefully, with some carrying pictures of three people killed in last week’s demonstrations.

“We want justice for innocent Kenyans killed by police during the protests that were peaceful,” Mary Lynn Wangui told AFP.

“Ruto has not offered an apology,” said the 24-year-old, as she waved a placard declaring: “RutoMustGo”.

At a peaceful march in the lakeside city of Kisumu in western Kenya, demonstrator Allan Odhiambo, 26, told AFP he had lost hope in Ruto.

“We promised a peaceful protest and that is what we have done, but Ruto must go,” he said.

The state-funded KNCHR on Monday said that in the previous protests there had been 32 cases of “enforced or involuntary disappearances” and 627 arrests of protesters. 

Kenya’s cash-strapped government said previously that the tax increases were necessary to fill its coffers and service a huge public debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), or about 70 percent of GDP.

In Sunday’s interview, Ruto warned that the government would have to borrow another $7.7 billion because of the decision to drop the finance bill.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kenyan President William Ruto
| Photo Credit: AFP

Hundreds of people marched in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on June 30, to honour those who died in anti-government demonstrations this week, as President William Ruto insisted that: “I have no blood on my hands.”

Rights groups say at least 30 people died in protests driven by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the East African country.

Following the violence, Mr. Ruto announced an about-turn earlier this week, saying he would “listen to the people” and would not sign the finance bill into law.

Mr. Ruto, in a television interview, put the toll at 19 – the first figures issued by the authorities – and promised a full investigation into the deaths.

Largely peaceful rallies turned violent last Tuesday when lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular tax increases following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Police opened fire on protesters who stormed the parliament complex and a fire broke out.

“I have no blood on my hands,” said Mr. Ruto during the interview with Kenyan TV.

Referring to the deaths, he said: “It is very unfortunate. As a democracy that should not be part of our conversation…”

“There will be an investigation on how these 19 Kenyans died,” he added. “There will be an explanation for each and every one of them.

“The police have done the best they could,” said Mr. Ruto.

“If there have been any excesses, we have mechanisms to make sure that those excesses are dealt with.”

And he added: “Any killer cop who went beyond what is provided for in the law will have action taken against them.”

‘We will catch’ criminals

But he warned that those who had attacked parliament would also be held accountable.

“Criminals infiltrated and caused mayhem,” he said. “Those who attacked Parliament and the judiciary are on CCTV.”

“Many of them are on the run but we will catch them,” he added.

Going back over his decision to scrap the finance bill at the last moment, Ruto said: “It means that we have gone back almost two years” and meant the government would have to borrow heavily.

But he acknowledged: “We should have communicated better.

“If I am given a chance to explain to the people of Kenya what the finance bill was all about and what it would have done for them, then every Kenyan would agree with me.”

The clashes were unprecedented in the history of the country since its independence from Britain in 1963.

On Saturday, a few hundred people gathered in Uhuru Park in central Nairobi following an appeal on media.

After singing and lighting candles, they waved Kenyan flags and chanted as they marched past the hospital where some of the injured protesters are being treated.

Demonstrators dispersed peacefully late in the afternoon.

People react to tear gas during a demonstration over police killings of people protesting against Kenya’s proposed finance bill 2024/2025, in Nairobi, Kenya, June 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Kenyan police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators in Nairobi on June 27, as protesters returned to the streets despite President William Ruto scrapping contentious tax hikes after deadly clashes.

The protests – led largely by young Kenyans – caught the authorities off-guard, as Mr. Ruto’s government ricocheted between taking a tough line on the unrest and calling for dialogue.

Dozens of protesters gathered in Nairobi’s central business district, with soldiers deployed and police in anti-riot gear blocking access along roads leading to Mr. Ruto’s office at State House and parliament, according to AFP journalists.

Officers fired rubber bullets and tear gas at small groups of protesters and arrested at least seven people, with scuffles erupting as some demonstrators threw stones at police, AFP journalists saw.

“The youth will not rest,” Lucky, a 27-year-old university graduate, told AFP.

“It’s our future we are fighting for,” he said, adding that he did not trust Mr. Ruto, who had earlier likened the demonstrators to “criminals” before backing down.

Many shops remained shuttered as traders worried about further unrest.

Protesters also rallied in the port city of Mombasa and the opposition bastion of Kisumu, with some blocking roads and lighting fires in the lakeside city.

After the parliament complex was ransacked on Tuesday and police opened fire on protesters, Ruto made a surprise U-turn on the tax hikes that set off the demonstrations.

He declined to sign the increases into law and withdrew the bill on Wednesday.

“The people have spoken,” he said, adding that he would seek “engagement with the young people of our nation”.

But protesters maintained Thursday’s rally in memory of those killed in the demonstrations, criticising Mr. Ruto’s dramatic reversal as a case of too little, too late.

Ivy, a 26-year-old job seeker, told AFP Wednesday that Mr. Ruto’s about-turn was “a start to changing things.”

“He could have done this earlier without people having to die,” she added, echoing the words of other protesters interviewed by AFP.

Cannot take risk

A state-backed rights group counted 22 dead nationwide – 19 in Nairobi alone – in the aftermath of Tuesday’s protests and vowed an investigation.

“This is the largest number of deaths (in) a single day protest,” said Roseline Odede, chairwoman of the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, adding that 300 people were injured across the country.

Shops were largely closed in Nairobi’s business district on Thursday.

“We cannot take risk. We don’t know what happens next,” said Joe, an employee in a perfume store, as he prepared to head home.

“Why did they have to kill these young people? This bill is not worth people dying,” the 30-year-old said.

“We are in uncharted waters.”

The unrest has alarmed the international community, with Washington calling on Kenya to respect the right to peaceful protest and the UN urging “accountability” for the bloodshed.

Rights watchdogs have accused the authorities of abducting protesters.

The police have not responded to AFP requests for comment.

Debt fears

Mr. Ruto rolled back some of the tax measures last week, prompting the treasury to warn of a budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings ($1.6 billion).

Mr. Ruto said Wednesday that withdrawing the bill would mean a significant hole in funding for development programmes to help farmers and teachers, among others.

The cash-strapped government had said previously that the increases were necessary to service Kenya’s debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), equal to roughly 70% of GDP.

Analysts warned that Ruto’s administration faced a tough choice in the weeks ahead.

The government “will now have to find a way to pacify two opposing forces: a populace willing to resort to violence to protect livelihoods, and a macroeconomic trajectory that, bar considerable multilateral support, is heading towards a cliff,” Oxford Economics said in a note.

Mr. Ruto’s administration is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, which has called for fiscal reforms in order to access crucial funding.

Kenyan President William Ruto said on June 26 that he won’t sign into law a finance bill proposing new taxes, a day after protesters stormed parliament and several people were shot dead. It was the biggest assault on Kenya’s government in decades.

The government wanted to raise funds to pay off debt, but Kenyans said the bill caused more economic pain as millions struggle to get by. The chaos on Tuesday led the government to deploy the military, and Ruto called protesters’ actions “treasonous.”

Five persons were shot dead and 31 wounded on June 25 during protests in Kenya over proposed tax hikes, as crowds opposed to proposed tax hikes breached barricades to enter the parliamentary complex where a fire erupted.

The Kenyan parliament passed the controversial finance bill on June 25 which increases taxes on a range of items including internet data, fuel, bank transfers and diapers

Nairobi:

Kenyan President William Ruto said Wednesday that a bill containing contentious tax hikes would “be withdrawn”, dramatically reversing course after more than 20 people were killed in clashes with police and parliament was ransacked by protesters opposed to the legislation.

The initially peaceful demonstrations were sparked last week by the 2024 finance bill — which politicians passed Tuesday afternoon — and took Ruto’s administration by surprise as rallies gathered momentum across the country.

But the Gen-Z-led protests spiralled into violence Tuesday when police fired live bullets at the crowds outside parliament, leaving the complex ransacked and partly on fire.

Nineteen people were killed in the capital Nairobi, a state-funded rights watchdog said.

“I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” Ruto told a press briefing. “The people have spoken,” he said.

“I will be proposing an engagement with the young people of our nation, our sons and daughters, for us to listen to them,” he said, in a marked shift from his late-night address Tuesday when he likened some of the demonstrators to “criminals”.

‘Cannot kill all of us’

Immediately after his speech, prominent protester Hanifa Adan dismissed Ruto’s announcement as “PR”.

Referring to his comments the previous night, she said on X: “He made that speech trying to intimidate us and he saw it won’t work hence the PR.”

“The bill is withdrawn but are you going to bring everyone that died back alive?”

Ahead of Ruto’s about-turn, protesters had called for fresh rallies on Thursday.

“Tomorrow, we march peacefully again as we wear white, for all our fallen people,” Adan had said.

“You cannot kill all of us.”

Demonstrators shared “Tupatane Thursday” (“we meet Thursday” in Swahili), alongside the hashtag #Rejectfinancebill2024 on social media.

Cost-of-living crisis

Ruto came to power in 2022 promising to champion the needs of impoverished Kenyans, but tax increases under his government have only made life tougher for those already struggling with high inflation.

The Kenyan leader had already rolled back some tax measures last week, prompting the treasury to warn of a gaping budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings.

Ruto said Wednesday that withdrawing the bill would mean a significant hole in funding for development programmes to help farmers and schoolteachers, among others.

The cash-strapped government had said previously that the increases were needed to service Kenya’s massive debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), equal to roughly 70 percent of GDP.

Deadly day

Earlier on Wednesday, Roseline Odede, chairwoman of the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said “we have recorded 22 deaths”, 19 of them in Nairobi, adding that they would launch an investigation.

“This is the largest number of deaths (in) a single day protest,” she said, adding that 300 people were injured across the country.

Simon Kigondu, president of the Kenya Medical Association, said he had never before seen “such level of violence against unarmed people.”

An official at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi said Wednesday that medics were treating “160 people…some of them with soft tissue injuries, some of them with bullet wounds.”

Rights watchdogs have also accused the authorities of kidnapping protesters.

The police have not responded to AFP requests for comment.

‘Madness’

A heavy police presence was deployed around parliament early on Wednesday, according to an AFP reporter, the smell of tear gas still in the air and dried blood on the ground.

A policeman standing in front of the broken barricades to the complex told AFP he had watched the scenes unfold on TV.

“It was madness, we hope it will be calm today,” he said.

In the central business district, where the protests have been concentrated, traders surveyed the damage.

“They didn’t leave anything, just the boxes. I don’t know how long it will take me to recover,” James Ng’ang’a, whose electronics shop was looted, told AFP.

The unrest has alarmed the international community, with Washington calling on Kenya to respect the right to peaceful protest on Wednesday.

Ruto’s administration is under pressure from the IMF, which has urged the country to implement fiscal reforms in order to access funding.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kenyan President William Ruto said on June 26 he won’t sign into law a finance bill proposing new taxes, a day after protesters stormed parliament and several people were shot dead. It was the biggest assault on Kenya’s government in decades.

The government wanted to raise funds to pay off debt, but Kenyans said the bill caused more economic pain as millions struggle to get by. The chaos on Tuesday led the government to deploy the military, and Ruto called protesters’ actions “treasonous.”

The president now says the bill caused “widespread dissatisfaction” and he has listened and “conceded.” It’s a major setback for Ruto, who came to power vowing to help Kenyans cope with rising costs but has seen much of the country, led by youth, unite in opposition to his latest attempt at reforms.

“It is necessary for us to have a conversation as a nation on how to do we manage the affairs of the country together,” he said.

Kenyans faced the lingering smell of tear gas and military in the streets a day after the latest protests saw thousands storm parliament, an act of defiance that Ruto had called an “existential” threat. At least 22 people were killed, a human rights group said, and police were accused of some shooting deaths.

Ruto acknowledged deaths, calling it an “unfortunate situation,” and offered condolences. He said about 200 people had been wounded.

Nairobi has seen protests in the past, but activists and others warned the stakes were more dangerous. Ruto on Tuesday vowed to quash unrest “at whatever cost,” even as more protests were called at State House on Thursday.

“We are dealing with a new phenomenon and a group of people that is not predictable. If it would have been the normal demonstrations, I’d say it will fizzle out with time, but we don’t know whether these people will fear the army,” said Herman Manyora, an analyst and professor at the University of Nairobi.

He said the president missed an opportunity in his national address Tuesday night to adopt a more conciliatory approach.

Kenya’s High Court on Wednesday ordered the military deployment suspended after a challenge by the Kenya Law Society.

Kenyans united beyond tribal and other divisions in the effort to keep the finance bill from becoming law. It would have raised taxes and fees on a range of daily items and services, from egg imports to bank transfers.

There were no reports of violence Wednesday, but there was fear. Civil society groups have reported abductions of people involved in recent protests and expect more to come. The High Court ordered police to release all people arrested in the protests. Ruto said those allegedly abducted had been released or processed in court.

Many young people who helped vote Ruto into power in 2022 with cheers for his promises of economic relief now object to the pain of reforms. Part of the parliament building burned Tuesday, and clashes occurred in several communities beyond the capital.

At least 22 people were killed, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission said. Commission chairperson Roseline Odede said 300 others were injured and 50 people were arrested.

The mother of a teenager killed, Edith Wanjiku, told journalists at a morgue that the police who shot her son should be charged with murder because her 19-year-old son had been unarmed.

“He had just completed school and was peacefully protesting,” she said.

Parliament, city hall and the supreme court were cordoned off with tape reading “Crime Scene Do Not Enter.” Authorities said police fired over 700 blanks to disperse protesters in the Nairobi suburb of Githurai overnight.

“My plea to the president is to listen to us and understand that this financial bill they want to pass is not as important as people’s lives,” said one Nairobi businessman, Gideon Hamisi. “Many young people lost their lives yesterday. I am a young man, and I feel deeply pained by what transpired.”

Opposition leader Raila Odinga called for dialogue, asserting that Kenya’s constitution had been suspended. “Kenya cannot afford to kill its children just because the children are asking for food, jobs and a listening ear,” he said in a statement.

In Nairobi, a regional hub for expatriates and home to a United Nations complex, inequality among Kenyans has sharpened along with long-held frustrations over state corruption. The booming young population is also frustrated by the lavish lifestyles of politicians including the president. Some who had passionately supported Ruto, who won power by portraying himself as a “hustler” of humble background, feel betrayed.

The youth, commonly referred to as Gen Zs, mobilized the protests and sought to keep lawmakers from approving the finance bill Tuesday. Ruto had had two weeks to sign the bill into law.

The president’s concession was “self preservation” by a leader worried about his reputation, opposition Sen. Edwin Sifuna wrote on X.

The events are a sharp turn for Ruto, who has been embraced by the United States as a welcome partner in Africa while frustration grows elsewhere on the continent with the U.S. and some other Western powers.

In May, Ruto went to Washington in the first state visit by an African leader in 16 years. On Tuesday, as the protests exploded, the U.S designated Kenya as its first major non-NATO ally in sub-Saharan Africa, a largely symbolic act but one highlighting their security partnership. Also Tuesday, hundreds of Kenyan police deployed to lead a multinational force against gangs in Haiti, an initiative that brought thanks from U.S. President Joe Biden.

Now Kenya’s government, along with protesters, face pleas for calm from partners including the U.S., which joined a dozen other nations in a statement Tuesday expressing “deep concern” over the violence and abductions.

“How did we get here?” Kenya’s vice president, Rigathi Gachagua, asked Wednesday in nationally broadcast comments after the president’s turnabout, openly wondering how the government had become so unpopular in just two years. “We were the darling of the Kenyan people.”

New Delhi:

India has advised its citizens in Kenya to exercise utmost caution and restrict non-essential movement amid violent protests in the East African nation against the government’s proposed tax hikes.

“In view of the prevailing tense situation, all Indians in Kenya are advised to exercise utmost caution, restrict non-essential movement and avoid the areas affected by the protests and violence till the situation clears up,” the Indian consulate in Kenya said in an advisory posted on social media platform X.

ADVISORY FOR INDIAN NATIONALS IN KENYA

In view of the prevailing tense situation, all Indians in Kenya are advised to exercise utmost caution, restrict non-essential movement and avoid the areas affected by the protests and violence till the situation clears up.

— India in Kenya (@IndiainKenya) June 25, 2024

“Please follow local news and Mission’s website and social media handles for updates,” it added.

At least five protestors were shot dead and more than 150 others injured in Nairobi as police used tear gas and live rounds after thousands stormed into Kenya’s Parliament and set part of it on fire.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

India has advised its citizens in Kenya to exercise utmost caution and restrict non-essential movement amid violent protests in the East African nation against the government’s proposed tax hikes.

“In view of the prevailing tense situation, all Indians in Kenya are advised to exercise utmost caution, restrict non-essential movement and avoid the areas affected by the protests and violence till the situation clears up,” the Indian consulate in Kenya said in an advisory posted on social media platform X.

ADVISORY FOR INDIAN NATIONALS IN KENYA

In view of the prevailing tense situation, all Indians in Kenya are advised to exercise utmost caution, restrict non-essential movement and avoid the areas affected by the protests and violence till the situation clears up.

— India in Kenya (@IndiainKenya) June 25, 2024

“Please follow local news and Mission’s website and social media handles for updates,” it added.

At least five protestors were shot dead and more than 150 others injured in Nairobi as police used tear gas and live rounds after thousands stormed into Kenya’s Parliament and set part of it on fire.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)