NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Part of Kenya’s parliament building was on fire Tuesday as thousands of protesters against a new finance law entered and lawmakers fled, in the most direct attack on the government in decades. Journalists saw at least three bodies outside the complex where police had opened fire.
Protesters had demanded that lawmakers vote against the bill that would impose new taxes on a country, East Africa’s economic hub, where frustrations over the high cost of living have simmered for years.
The protesters, many of them young, outsmarted police to enter parliament shortly after lawmakers voted in favor of the bill. Lawmakers fled through a tunnel, but demonstrators allowed opposition lawmakers who voted against the bill to leave the besieged building.
One person shot dead was wrapped in a Kenyan flag and taken away.
The office of the governor of Nairobi, a member of the ruling party, was also briefly set on fire. The office is located close to parliament. Police water cannons were used to extinguish the fire.
Protesters could be heard shouting: “We are coming for every politician.”
Police also fired live ammunition and threw tear gas canisters at protesters seeking treatment in a medical tent set up at a church near the parliament complex.
Kenya’s Human Rights Commission shared a video of officers shooting at protesters and said they would be held accountable.
Hundreds of Kenyan police officers, long accused of abuses by human rights watchdogs and others, Arrived in Haiti on Tuesday to lead a United Nations-backed multinational force against the powerful gangs that have taken hold of the country. The deployment is facing a legal challenge in Kenya, but President William Ruto’s government has pressed ahead thanks to US President Joe Biden.
Ruto was outside Nairobi on Tuesday attending an African Union retreat. On Sunday, he said he was proud of the youth who had come out to exercise their democratic duty and that he would engage the youth in their concerns.
Ruto was expected to sign the funding bill into law this week. He has two weeks to take action.
Tuesday’s protests appeared to be spreading. Protesters set fire to ruling party offices in Embu in central Kenya, Nation newspaper reported.
Another media outlet, broadcaster KTN, issued a statement saying that “we have received threats from the authorities to shut us down,” as reporting continued.
Two people were killed in similar protests last weekand civil society groups have raised alarms about the crackdown.
Kenya Law Society president Faith Odhiambo said on Tuesday that 50 Kenyans, including her personal assistant, had been “kidnapped” by people believed to be police officers.
The missing included those who made their voices heard during the demonstrations and were taken from their homes, workplaces and public spaces ahead of Tuesday’s protests, civil society groups said.
Police officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Speaker of Parliament Moses Wetangula had directed the Inspector General of Police to provide information on the whereabouts of those allegedly kidnapped.
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