iot police patrolled Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Tuesday morning as teenage activists urged for fresh protests in the wake of last week’s deadly confrontations.
Members of the protest movement, which has no official leaders and is mostly organised through social media, have rejected President William Ruto’s calls for dialogue, even after he abandoned proposed tax increases.
Infuriated by the fatalities last week – at least 39, according to the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR), many are now calling for Ruto’s resignation.
“We are determined to push for the president’s resignation,” Ojango Omondi, an activist in Nairobi, stated. “We hope for a peaceful protest and minimal casualties, if any.”
The protests, which began as an online outpouring of outrage over roughly $2.7 billion in tax increases in a planned finance bill, have developed into a nationwide movement against corruption and misgovernance, becoming the most serious problem of Ruto’s nearly two-year leadership.
He has been caught between contradictory demands from lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which is pressuring the heavily indebted government to reduce deficits, and a struggling people reeling from rising living costs.
Ruto has asked the Treasury to find methods to decrease spending to close the budget gap produced by the bill’s withdrawal, and he has also stated that further borrowing will be required.
The protests, which began in mid-June, remained generally peaceful until last Tuesday, when police fought with demonstrators. Some protestors briefly stormed parliament and set it on fire. According to human rights groups, the police opened fire, killing many people.
The KNHCR said on Monday that 39 people had been killed and 361 injured since the first demonstration on June 18.
Ruto supported the police’s actions, claiming they were doing their best under tough circumstances. He blamed the violence on “criminals” who he claimed had hijacked the demonstrations.
“It’s a lovely day to be patriotic. “A beautiful day to choose peace, order, and the sanctity of our nationhood,” State House communications director Gerald Bitok tweeted on X Tuesday morning, adding in Swahili: “Violence is not patriotism.”
It was unclear how people would react to the fresh demands for protests. There were no reports of demonstrations in the early morning.
Shops were open as usual in downtown Nairobi, the scene of last week’s most fierce protests. Police have set up barriers going to the president’s official house.
“I think it’s not going to be maandamano (protest) because maybe people are afraid, because some people have been shot,” said Kennedy Otwal, who was heading through downtown.
