By Edwin Waita
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan police fired tear gas on Tuesday to quell clashes between groups of protesters and government supporters in the capital Nairobi, a youth-led demonstration against alleged corruption and misgovernment that has been going on for six weeks.
The protests, which began as opposition to tax hikes and culminated in the storming of parliament, have continued despite the president’s support. Willem Ruto In June, the $2.7 billion financing proposal was scrapped.
He also sacked almost his entire cabinet, although he retained many remnants of the previous government when he named part of his new line-up last Friday. On Tuesday, Ruto announced further changes, including swapping his defence and environment ministers.
For the first time since the protests began on June 18, a group of government supporters, mostly on motorbikes, marched through downtown Nairobi, blowing whistles and plastic horns and carrying signs reading “We support the president” and “Enough is enough.”
“We will make sure that things return to normal in this city. We condemn the protests,” said a government supporter, who declined to be named.
According to police, the protests, in which at least 50 people have died, have been infiltrated by criminal gangs.
Anti-government protesters chanted what has become their signature mantra: “Ruto must go.”
“The police only target us, the peaceful protesters, while hired thugs, masked on motorbikes with hidden license plates, move in full view of the onlookers, while the police just watch,” said one protester, who also declined to be named.
AIRPORTS ARE OPERATING NORMALLY
In Pipeline Estate in Embakasi, a neighborhood in the east of the city, men in army and air force uniforms helped police fight off crowds of people, a Reuters journalist said.
It was not clear whether they were protesters or just rioters, the journalist said. The police spokesman, the Nairobi police commander and the army spokesman did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Ruto had previously said he was listening to the protesters’ demands, but struck a less conciliatory tone on Sunday, saying he would protect the country’s peace and stability and take strict action “against those who engage in chaos and anarchy.”
Leading activists in the leaderless protest movement called on people to “occupy” Nairobi’s main airports on Tuesday, but police were deployed in large numbers on surrounding roads to prevent serious disruption.
The airport operator asked passengers to arrive hours before their flight departs due to stricter security checks.
(Additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo; writing by George Obulutsa and Hereward Holland; editing by Duncan Miriri, Michael Perry and Sharon Singleton)