Kenyan soldiers patrol near a stadium before a new anti-government demonstration planned in central Nairobi on June 27, 2024 (AFP / LUIS TATO)
Kenyan police fired tear gas at small groups of protesters in Nairobi on Thursday, the day after President Williem Ruto announced the withdrawal of his proposed budget after Tuesday’s day of protests that degenerated into deadly violence in the capital.
If previous days of mobilization demanding the withdrawal of these new taxes had taken place calmly, Tuesday’s demonstration in Nairobi turned into a bloodbath, particularly around Parliament, some buildings of which were set on fire and ransacked.
Faced with the mobilization, President Ruto announced on Wednesday the withdrawal of the draft budget.
But that did not deter the protesters, who also gathered in the opposition strongholds of Mombasa (east) and Kisumu (west).
Beyond the draft budget, the protest movement has transformed into a broader denunciation of the policies of William Ruto, elected in 2022 with the promise of promoting redistribution to the working classes.
A few clashes broke out at midday in Nairobi between the police, deployed in large numbers in the streets of the city center, and small groups of demonstrators. At least three people were arrested, AFP journalists noted.
Police in riot gear blocked access to roads leading to State House – the presidential palace – and Parliament on Thursday.
During the previous mobilization on Tuesday, according to several NGOs, the police fired live ammunition to try to contain the crowd that forced the security barriers to enter the complex of the National Assembly and the Senate, an unprecedented attack in the history of the country, which has been independent since 1963.
A total of 22 people were killed during the day, including 19 in Nairobi, and more than 300 injured, said the Kenyan human rights body (KNHRC).
– “Unknown terrain” –
Protesters carry an injured man near Parliament in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 25, 2024 (AFP / LUIS TATO)
Thursday, a little earlier in the morning, in the business center of the capital, where many businesses remained closed, Moe, employed in a perfumery, had lowered the curtain. “We don’t know what will happen (…) We can’t take risks,” he told AFP.
“Why did they have to kill these young people? This bill is not worth people dying (…) Some people are angry and might want revenge,” he laments in front of his perfume store, adding : “We are in uncharted territory.”
On Wednesday, a figure in the protest movement, journalist and activist Hanifa Adan, called for demonstrations again on Thursday during a “peaceful” white march in memory of the victims.
A few hours later, William Ruto, who the day before had said he wanted to firmly repress “violence and anarchy”, finally announced the withdrawal of the draft budget, and said he wanted a national consultation with young people.
An announcement immediately described as a “com operation” by Hanifa Adan, and greeted with suspicion by a number of demonstrators, like Nelly, 26, who told AFP that he wanted to join this march, judging the withdrawal of the project from the announced budget by the president “too weak, too late”. “He could have done it sooner without people dying,” she said.
Clashes between police and demonstrators in Nairobi, June 25, 2024 in Kenya (AFP / Tony KARUMBA)
“We are going to march for a better future in Kenya,” she added.
The president of the Kenya Medical Association, Simon Kigondu, said he had never seen before Tuesday “such a level of violence against unarmed people.”
– Debt –
Demonstration against the government’s draft budget, June 25, 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya (AFP / LUIS TATO)
The spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Wednesday for responsibilities to be “clearly” established after the death of the demonstrators.
The government, which considers the new taxes necessary to give the heavily indebted country some room for maneuver, announced on June 18 that it was withdrawing most of these measures. But the demonstrators demanded the complete withdrawal of the text.
“How can we manage our debt situation together?” asked William Ruto after capitulating on the draft budget.
He was particularly concerned about a significant hole in funding for programs for farmers and teachers.
The government “will now have to find a way to pacify two opposing forces: a population willing to resort to violence to protect its livelihoods, and a macroeconomic trajectory that, in the absence of considerable multilateral support, is heading toward the precipice”, according to an analysis by the Oxford Economics Institute.
The country’s public debt amounts to around 10,000 billion shillings (71 billion euros), or around 70% of GDP. The 2024-25 budget provided for 4,000 billion shillings (29 billion euros) in spending, a record.
