(Nairobi) One of the figures of the anti-government protest movement in Kenya called for peaceful demonstrations again on Thursday in memory of the victims of Tuesday’s chaotic mobilization, which left 22 dead according to the official human rights organization. person.
After the day of violence and looting in the capital Nairobi, during which parliament voted on the draft budget denounced in the streets, President William Ruto displayed his firmness on Tuesday evening and assured that “violence and anarchy” would be firmly repressed.
“All sovereign power rests with the people of Kenya. You can’t kill us all,” wrote journalist and activist Hanifa Adan, a figure of the protest, on Wednesday morning on X, while the government announced that it had deployed the army to support the police in the face of the protest.
“Tomorrow we march peacefully again wearing white, for all of our fallen. You will not be forgotten! ! ! “, she added.
The official human rights body, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC), recorded 22 deaths in the country, including 19 in the capital Nairobi, “more than 300 injured and more than 50 arrests,” indicated its president, Roseline Odede, announcing “to open an investigation” into these deaths.
The authorities did not give any figures on the number of victims of this third day of mobilization in eight days against the 2024-25 draft budget providing for tax increases. The text voted on Tuesday in parliament must still be promulgated by President Ruto.
Kenya was still in shock on Wednesday from this violence, which notably saw demonstrators storm Parliament, a first in the history of the independent country since 1963.
In the central business district (CBD) of Nairobi, the smell of tear gas still floated in the morning in the streets, the roads of which still bore traces of blood. A large police force, reinforced by the army on Tuesday evening, crisscrossed the neighborhood, AFP noted.
Tension suddenly rose Tuesday afternoon in the center of the capital.
According to NGOs, including the Kenyan branch of Amnesty International, the police fired live ammunition to try to contain the crowd, which forced the entrance to the Parliament grounds. Buildings there were ransacked and partially burned.
“The government doesn’t care about us, they shot us with live ammunition. The president persecuted innocent people,” complains Steve, a 40-year-old farmer who returned to the scene of the demonstration on Wednesday. He promises to demonstrate on Thursday, saying he expects “more violence and chaos.”
In Nairobi and several towns, crowds also engaged in looting.
“They left nothing, just the boxes,” lamented James Ng’ang’a, owner of an electronics store on Avenue Moi, the main artery of the CBD: “They took everything, the phones, laptops and inventory from the store upstairs…”
Buildings were burned in Eldoret, in the Rift Valley, stronghold of President William Ruto.
The scenes of chaos alarmed the United States and more than a dozen European countries on Tuesday, as well as the UN and the African Union, which declared themselves “deeply concerned” and called for calm.
The main opposition coalition, Azimio, led by veteran Raila Odinga, accused the government of “unleashing its brute force” against protesters and urged police to “stop shooting innocent, peaceful and unarmed children “.
The police did not respond to requests from AFP on the subject.
The anti-tax protest movement, dubbed “Occupy Parliament,” was launched on social media shortly after the 2024-2025 budget bill was presented to parliament on June 13, which includes a 16% VAT on bread and a 2.5% annual tax on private vehicles.
After the start of protests, the government, which considers new taxes necessary in view of the country’s heavy debt, announced on June 18 that it was withdrawing most of the measures planned for this purpose.
Before Tuesday, this mobilization had already been marked by the death of two people in Nairobi, as well as dozens of injuries and hundreds of arrests.
