Kenyan Anti-riot Police Patrol Nairobi Amidst Fresh Calls for Protests

GOOBJOOG NEWS | NAIROBI: Kenyan anti-riot police Tuesday intensified patrols at the capital Nairobi and other major towns as activists made calls for more protests.

The activists, majorly composed of young Kenyan citizens have rejected repeated calls by government officials including president William Ruto to engage in dialogue, even after Ruto abandoned the proposed tax hikes.

The proposed Financial Bill 2024 sparked countrywide riots that has led to the deaths of at least 39 people according to the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR) – many are now demanding that Ruto step down.

“We are determined to push for the president’s resignation,” Ojango Omondi, an activist in Nairobi, said. “We hope for a peaceful protest and minimal casualties, if any.”

KNCHR records indicate 39 people have died and 361 have been injured “in relation to the protests countrywide”, the state-funded body said in a statement, adding that the figures covered the period from June 18 to July 1.

It added that there had been 32 cases of “enforced or involuntary disappearances” and 627 arrests of protesters.

The protests that started as an online outpouring of anger over nearly $2.7 billion of tax hikes in a proposed finance bill have grown into a nationwide movement against corruption and misgovernance, and become the most serious crisis of Ruto’s nearly two-year-old presidency.