Kenya police chief resigns after deadly tax protests

caa5a727930fd8e0b722ebe4376ec039


Kenyan police chief Japhet Koome has resigned after weeks of violent protests over proposed tax hikes that left more than 40 people dead.

Human rights groups accuse police of shooting dozens of protesters, some of them fatally, and abducting or arbitrarily arresting hundreds of others.

The resignation comes a day after the president Willem Ruto fired most of his cabinet, following pressure from the protest movement coordinated largely online by young Kenyans.

Two weeks ago, protesters stormed parliament shortly after lawmakers passed the controversial finance bill.

President Ruto later withdrew the bill, but that did not quell the protesters who want him to step down and are planning more protests to demand further reforms.

Deputy police chief Douglas Kanja will take over the police force with immediate effect, the Kenyan president said.

More stories from the BBC:

A woman looks at her mobile phone and the image BBC News AfricaA woman looks at her mobile phone and the image BBC News Africa

(Getty Images/BBC)

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

follow us on twitter @BBCAfricaon Facebook on BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

BBC Africa Podcasts

?s=598314&p=news.articles.c978l3rlymvo.page&x1=%5Burn%3Abbc%3Aoptimo%3Aasset%3Ac978l3rlymvo%5D&x4=%5Ben gb%5D&x5=%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fc978l3rlymvo%5D&x7=%5Barticle%5D&x8=%5Bsynd nojs ISAPI%5D&x9=%5BKenya%27s+police+chief+resigns+after+deadly+anti tax+protests%5D&x11=%5B2024 07 12T14%3A25%3A47.678Z%5D&x12=%5B2024 07



Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top