Anti-government protests resume in Kenya after 39 people killed

Anti-government demonstrations resumed in various Kenyan cities on Tuesday, with protesters calling for a clampdown on state corruption and wasteful government expenditure.

Police dressed in anti-riot gear fired tear gas in the capital, Nairobi, to disperse pockets of stone-throwing protesters, some of whom blocked a road with coffins. In the port city of Mombasa, crowds of people chanted “Ruto Must Go!,” while others lit bonfires along one of the roads in the western town of Migori.

At least 39 people have died and hundreds more have been injured since demonstrations against President William Ruto’s administration began two weeks ago, according to the state-appointed Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. The protests were initially against Ruto’s plan to introduce a range of new taxes.

While the president subsequently withdrew the revenue-raising measures, the protest movement made up mainly of young people is now calling for Ruto and other political leaders to step down.

The crowds in Nairobi on Tuesday weren’t as big as those on June 25, when a throng stormed parliament as legislators were voting on the new taxes. The protesters also set fire to part of the legislature buildings, the chief justice’s offices and City Hall. In response, Ruto deployed the military to restore calm.

“What happened on the 25th of June amounted to a vote of no confidence in the Ruto regime,” said Edwin Sifuna, secretary-general of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement party. The executive and legislature “must have an honest introspection on their contribution to our current predicament.”

Kenya’s state-appointed human rights agency on Monday criticized the response of the security forces, describing it as “excessive and disproportionate.” It also condemned lawlessness exhibited by some of the protesters, including the destruction of infrastructure in Nairobi.

Of the 39 people killed since the protests began, 17 were in Nairobi, according to the commission. At least 361 people have been wounded, and there’ve been 32 cases of “enforced or involuntary disappearances,” it said.

In power for less than two years, Ruto has increased tax rates and introduced new levies in a bid to boost state coffers in line with fiscal reforms under an International Monetary Fund program. Government finances have also been under pressure from debt repayments, including a eurobond that matured this year and another $1 billion in Chinese loans for a railway.

—With assistance from Bella Genga.