- Police opened fire on protesters attempting to storm Kenya’s legislature, resulting in the death of at least five protesters from gunshot wounds.
- Parts of the Parliament building were set on fire when MPs inside passed a bill to increase taxes.
- Police eventually drove the protesters out of the building and evacuated lawmakers through underground tunnels.
Police opened fire on protesters who were trying to break in Legislature of Kenya On Tuesday, at least five protesters were killed, dozens were injured and parts of the parliament building were set on fire while lawmakers inside passed legislation to raise taxes.
In chaotic scenes, protesters overpowered and pushed back police in an attempt to storm the parliament complex, with Citizen TV reporting that protesters had managed to enter the Senate chamber earlier in the day.
When tear gas and water cannon failed to disperse the crowd, the police started firing.
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A Reuters journalist counted at least five bodies of protesters outside parliament. Paramedic Vivian Achista said at least 10 people were shot dead.
A Kenyan police officer dressed in anti-riot gear asks protesters to disperse during a protest against the finance bill in Nairobi, Kenya, June 25, 2024. (Patrick Menhart/Getty Images)
Another paramedic, Richard Ngumo, said more than 50 people were injured in the firing. He was taking two injured protesters to an ambulance outside Parliament.
“We want to shut down parliament and every MP should go down and resign,” protester Davis Tafari told Reuters as he tried to enter parliament. “We will have a new government.”
Kenyan activist Auma Obama, the half-sister of former US President Barack Obama, was among protesters who were tear gassed during the demonstrations, a CNN interview reported.
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Police eventually managed to drive the protesters out of the building amid sounds of tear gas and gunfire. Local media reported that lawmakers were evacuated through underground tunnels.
Internet services were also badly affected across the country during the police operation, internet monitor NetBlocks reported. Kenya’s main network operator Safaricom said two undersea cables were down, causing disruptions to internet services.
Protests and clashes also occurred in several other cities and towns across the country, with many people demanding that President William Ruto step down, as well as expressing their opposition to tax increases.
Parliament has approved the Finance Bill, after which it will be read for the third time by the MPs. The next step is that the bill will be sent to the President for signature. If he has any objections, he can send it back to the Parliament.
Ruto won election nearly two years ago on a platform of being a voice for Kenya’s working poor, but he is caught between competing demands from lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and a hard-pressed public that is urging the government to cut the deficit to secure more money.
Kenyans are struggling to cope with multiple economic shocks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, two consecutive years of drought and a currency devaluation.
Finance Bill The goal is to raise an additional $2.7 billion in taxes in an effort to ease the burden of a massive debt, with interest payments alone taking up 37% of annual revenue.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the finance bill to open the way for negotiations.
“I am disturbed by the police killings, arrests, detentions and surveillance of boys and girls who simply want to be heard about tax policies that are robbing them of both their present and future,” he said in a statement.
The government has already made some concessions, promising to eliminate proposed new taxes on bread, cooking oil, car ownership and financial transactions. But this is not enough to satisfy the protesters.
The protests on Tuesday began in a festive atmosphere, but as the crowds grew, police fired tear gas in Nairobi’s central business district and the poor neighbourhood of Kibera. Protesters threw stones at police lines to take cover.
People started climbing on police vehicles parked on the city streets.
Police also fired tear gas in Ruto’s hometown of Eldoret in western Kenya, where crowds of protesters poured into the streets and many businesses closed for fear of violence.
Clashes also occurred in the coastal city of Mombasa and in Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria, and in Garissa in eastern Kenya, where police blocked the main road leading to Somalia’s port of Kismayu.
In Nairobi people chanted “Ruto must go” and the crowd sang in Swahili: “Everything is possible even without Ruto”. Music played from loudspeakers for some hours before the violence escalated and protesters waved Kenyan flags and whistled.
Police did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Organic movement
Thousands of people took to the streets of Nairobi and several other cities during two days of protests last week as an online, youth-led movement gained momentum.
Protests in Kenya are usually called by political leaders who are willing to seek negotiated solutions and power-sharing arrangements, but the young Kenyans taking part in the current demonstrations have no official leader and are becoming increasingly bold in their demands.
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Although the protesters were initially focused on the finance bill, their demands have now extended to Ruto’s resignation.
The opposition refused to participate in the voting in Parliament, shouting “Reject, Reject” as the House considered the bill one by one. The bill will then be put to a third and final vote in the House.
The Finance Ministry says the amendments would leave a $1.56 billion hole in the 2024/25 budget, and Government Cutting spending or raising taxes elsewhere.
Kenya’s sovereign dollar bonds fell on Tuesday afternoon amid growing civil unrest, Tradeweb data showed. The 2034 maturity fell the most, trading 0.6 cents lower at 74.7 cents on the dollar.
“They are budgeting for corruption,” said protester Hussein Ali, 18. “We will not back down. It’s the government that is going to back down. Not us.”
