Protesters, who were this Tuesday (25.6.2024) in the streets of Nairobi and other cities in Kenya, are counting their deaths at the end of a day of unrest. At least five people lost their lives during clashes with police. Demonstrators are protesting against tax reform. The State actually wants to increase certain taxes to replenish public coffers. But the reform is having difficulty passing.
Parliament on fire
The major scene of the day was when hundreds of people entered the Parliament building in Nairobi. The deputies met there to debate the new text which provides, among other things, an increase in taxes, including a VAT of 16% on bread and an annual tax of 2.5% on private vehicles.
The police barriers did not hold up against the pressure of the angry demonstrators. Part of the Parliament premises caught fire. Other institutions were also attacked, such as the governorate and the headquarters of the Supreme Court.
Five people lost their lives and more than thirty others were injured, according to a report from civil society. Several organizations claim that the Kenyan police fired live ammunition at demonstrators.
The NetBlocks organization, which monitors telecommunications networks, also reported significant disruptions on the internet. The Kenyan government announced in the evening that it had deployed the army to help the police deal with the demonstrations.
Pressure on public coffers
The mobilization, also carried out on social networks, is organized at the call of the “Occupy Parliament” movement which has been protesting since June 13, from the first presentation of this text in Parliament.
It is precisely under this pressure that several amendments were made to the text to lessen its economic impact. This Tuesday’s debate in Parliament aimed precisely to make further amendments to this text which should be voted on this Sunday (6/30/2024). However, its detractors are calling for the measure to be withdrawn entirely.
A measure that the State considers necessary to restore room for maneuver to the country, which is heavily in debt. The government hopes to get nearly three billion US dollars from it. In a speech in the evening, President William Ruto promises to respond to Tuesday’s events, which he compares to a betrayal.
Mostly young people aged 20 to 30, the demonstrators, from different layers of society, received support from religious people. The Catholic Church said the tax hike could push even more Kenyans into poverty.
Already, the protest seems to be leaving the fiscal arena to target President William Ruto, in power for two years. “Ruto must go” chanted the demonstrators.
International reactions
More than a dozen Western countries, including France and Germany, have declared themselves “deeply concerned” by the violence repressed by the Kenyan police.
In a joint statement from their diplomatic representations, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Romania, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the United States particularly deplore the deaths and injuries by firearms that occurred in Nairobi. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls for restraint according to a statement sent by the organization’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
A look back at a day of chaos in Nairobi
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Kenyan police officers Haiti
These unrest broke out as a first contingent of Kenyan police arrived this Tuesday in Port-au-Prince, as part of an international mission aimed at restoring security in Haiti, a country ravaged by gang violence. Kenya has proposed sending a thousand police officers to Haiti for the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS), planned for an initial duration of one year, and to which Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, the Bahamas and Barbados.
The deployment of this force, which will be around 2,500 people strong, was approved by a UN Security Council resolution in October, but it arouses strong criticism in Kenya.
