NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyans woke up Wednesday to the acrid smell of tear gas still hanging in the capital, a day after protesters stormed parliament amid violent demonstrations over a controversial tax plan that have left at least six people dead.
When the day started, there were no reports of violence. Police and soldiers patrolled the streets as city workers began clearing the rubble. Parliament, City Hall and the Supreme Court were cordoned off with tape saying ‘Do not enter crime scene’.
The army was deployed overnight to support police as President William Ruto called the events treasonous and vowed to quell the unrest “at any cost”.
Kenya has been rocked for more than a week by mass protests against… proposed financing law that would raise taxes as frustrations over the cost of living simmer. Many youths who helped vote Ruto into power with cheers for his promises of economic relief have taken to the streets to protest the pain of reforms.
Thousands of protesters stormed Kenya’s parliament on Tuesday and set fire to parts of the building as lawmakers fled. Police responded with gunfire and several protesters were killed. The city’s morgue told The Associated Press it received six bodies from police on Tuesday.
Authorities said police fired more than 700 blanks to disperse protesters in the suburb of Githurai, east of the capital Nairobi. Videos of gunfire piercing the night sky were shared online.
More than a hundred people were injured in Tuesday’s protests, according to civil society groups. It is still unclear how many people have been arrested.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply saddened by reports of deaths and injuries.
“I urge the Kenyan authorities to exercise restraint and call for all demonstrations to be peaceful,” he wrote on social media platform X.
In Nairobi, a regional hub for expats and home to a United Nations complex, inequality among Kenyans has increased along with long-held frustrations over state corruption.
Opposition to the finance law has united much of the country, with some explicitly rejecting the tribal divisions that have torn Kenya apart in the past. Some who passionately supported Ruto felt betrayed.
A Kenyan newspaper, Daily Nation, called for dialogue. “Let’s reason together,” read the front page.
Citizen TV, a local broadcaster, led a discussion titled “A Country on the Brink of the Abyss,” with panelists calling on the government to engage with the public.
