Tear Gas Fired At Anti-government Protesters In Kenya

Kenyan police have fired tear gas in the capital Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa to disperse anti-government protests.

In both city centres, many businesses have remained closed. Protesters have also taken to the streets in other cities, including Kisumu.

Human rights groups report that 39 people have been killed by security forces since protests over a controversial bill began two weeks ago.

President Willem Ruto has since dropped the proposed tax hike, but the protests have now turned to calls for him to resign and anger over police violence in the worst crisis of his presidency.

Burning cars were seen in Mombasa as groups of protesters clashed with police.

In Nairobi, there have been clashes along some of the main roads leading to the city centre, with some protesters lighting fires and throwing stones at police.

In the central business districts of Nairobi and Mombasa, some shopkeepers have hired baton-wielding vigilantes to patrol the streets to prevent looting.

Astin Kibowen, 21, who guards the music shop where he works in Nairobi, told the BBC he wanted the president to “listen to our cries, to our voices”.

Since President Ruto came to power two years ago with a promise to revive the economy, Kenyans have been hit by a cost of living crisis, with taxes on salaries, fuel and sales increasing.

On one of the main streets in central Nairobi, activists placed empty coffins in front of riot police to draw attention to their excessive use of force during protests across the country.

According to the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), most of the protesters were killed on Tuesday when lawmakers voted to pass the bill and large crowds gathered to demonstrate.

Seventeen people were killed in Nairobi and 22 others were killed elsewhere in the country, a statement said on Monday evening.

There were also 361 injuries, 32 cases of “enforced or involuntary disappearances” and 627 arrests, the report said.

Amnesty International says 24 protesters have died in the protests, compared to an earlier estimate by police of 19.

An artist told the BBC she plans to capture the protests as they happened in Nairobi.

“We mourn the children killed by police. While others chant, I make art. I saw a flag put on this man when he was shot last week,” said Linda Indakwa, 29, as she pointed to a piece of art she had placed on a street in the city center.

The KNCHR condemned “in the strongest possible terms the unjustified violence and force exercised against protesters, medical personnel, lawyers, journalists and in safe places such as churches, emergency medical centres and ambulances”.

According to the organization, the force used against the demonstrators was “excessive and disproportionate”.

President Ruto said during a roundtable discussion with journalists on Sunday that the police had “done their best”.

He added that “if there are excesses”, these would be addressed through “existing mechanisms”.

The president too the consequences of rejecting the financial law explainedand said this meant Kenya would have to borrow one trillion shillings ($7.6 billion; £6.1 billion) to “run our government” – a 67% increase on what had been planned.

It would also affect the education, health and agriculture sectors, he said.

Additional reporting by the BBC’s Gladys Kigo and Mercy Juma in Nairobi.