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Kenya's capital Nairobi on Tuesday morning saw protests against the government with visuals from local media showing anti-riot police lobbing tear gas shells at people who took to the streets against the tax policies and other governance issues.
A section of professional bodies and civil society have rejected appeals by Kenyan President William Ruto's call for talks even as he said that he won't be signing into law the 2024 Finance bill that proposed tax hikes. Visuals by Citizen TV Kenya showed police using tear gas to disperse a group of protesters near Archives in Nairobi CBD. President Ruto appealed to protesting groups saying that he knows what to do to assuage the ballooning public anger, Kenya-based newspaper Nation reported. On Saturday, President Ruto announced the formation of a National Multi-Sectoral Forum (NMSF) to address the concerns of the youth who have been the face of anti-government anger, NTV Kenya reported. The body includes the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Kenya Medical Association (KMA), Kenya Union of Journalists and a number of civil society groups, according to the report in the Nairobi-headquartered daily Nation. Members of the protest movement in a statement said, "The youth for Kenya (Gen Z) have clearly spoken on the urgent need for the state to arrest public theft and a bloated cabinet, invest in essential services, act on those who fired upon unarmed protesters and an end to extra-judicial killings among other demands." They further said that many of the issues voiced by the youth do not need a dialogue on policy but decisive executive action. The groups said that the faith of the generation will be restored if the government makes use of decisive execution and not a state-led national conversation. The statement read, "This will bring back confidence in our constitution and governance institution and create a nation united and driven by our constitutional values. We call on the national administration and 47 county administration to listen and act on the considerations and demands raised by the Gen Z." Speaking at Ufungamano House on Monday, the bodies said that the police had killed 24 protesters and 361 others had been injured, Nation reported. The group said, "As of last night, 24 human beings had been killed by police officers, one of the youngest fatalities is 12-year-old Kennedy Onyango." The groups said that police arrested 627 people across the nation and 32 people were abducted where some were still missing to date. According to the groups, those who had been abducted were not even booked in any police stations and were not facing any charges against them. "Tens have been held incommunicado and denied access to their families, legal presentation and medical assistance," Nation reported the statement by the protesting groups. The groups stated that majority of the medical practitioners had come under fire as they were arrested by the police who they accused of even stealing patient lists from mobile emergency centers which were present in various part of Kenya to treat the injured. According to the groups, lawyers were denied access to their clients and were being arrested and intimidated by officers to drop some cases. Moreover, cameras of journalists who were reporting about protesters were confiscated, some were arrested and beaten. Kenya has been witnessing a series of anti-government protests for the past two weeks. The protests began with a section of youth expressing opposition to the Finance Bill 2024. This forced Ruto to decline signing the bill into law. The youths have announced that they will continue to hold protest until their concerns are addressed. Meanwhile, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) announced the death toll on Monday, which is almost double the figure previously disclosed by the government for those killed while demonstrating against a raft of unpopular tax increases that have now been withdrawn, Al Jazeera reported. KNCHR records further indicated that 39 people have died and 361 have been injured "in relation to the protests countrywide", the state-funded body said in a statement, adding that the figures covered the period from June 18 to July 1, reported Al Jazeera. It further stated that there had been 32 cases of "enforced or involuntary disappearances" and 627 arrests of protesters. Moreover, largely peaceful anti-tax rallies, led by mostly young Gen-Z protesters, descended into shocking scenes of deadly violence last Tuesday when lawmakers passed the contentious legislation. Later, following the announcement of the vote, crowds ransacked the parliament complex in central Nairobi and it was partly set ablaze as police fired live bullets at protesters, as reported by Al Jazeera. Notably, it is the most serious crisis to be confronted by the government of President William Ruto since he took office in September 2022 following a deeply divisive election in a nation often considered a beacon of stability in a turbulent region. Ruto, in a televised interview on Sunday, said that 19 people had died in the protests, but insisted that he did not have "blood on my hands" and pledged an investigation into the deaths. The KNCHR "continues to condemn in the strongest terms possible the unwarranted violence and force that was inflicted on protesters, medical personnel, lawyers, journalists and on safe spaces such as churches, medical emergency centres and ambulances," the rights body said. "We maintain that the force used against the protesters was excessive and disproportionate," it added. The watchdog also said that it "strongly condemns the violent and shocking acts of lawlessness that were exhibited by some of the protesters" including the parliament and other government buildings. (ANI)
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