Five dead as protesters invade Kenyan parliament

 

Police fired on demonstrators trying to storm Kenya’s legislature on Tuesday and at least five protesters were shot dead, with sections of the parliament building set ablaze as lawmakers inside passed a bill to raise taxes.

Reuters reports that in chaotic scenes, protesters overwhelmed police and chased them away in an attempt to storm the parliament compound, with Citizen TV reporting protesters had managed to enter the Senate chamber.

Police opened fire after tear gas and water cannon failed to disperse the crowds.

Kenya’s army has been deployed to support the police in controlling the “security emergency” which has resulted in the “destruction and breaching of critical infrastructure,” Defence Minister Aden Duale said on Tuesday in the official gazette, Reuters reports.

A Reuters journalist counted the bodies of at least five protesters outside parliament.

According to Reuters, the Kenya Medical Association said in a statement that at least five had been shot dead while treating the injured, saying 31 people had been injured, with 13 shot with live bullets and four with rubber bullets.

The association called on authorities to establish safe medical corridors to protect medical staff and ambulances.

Police eventually managed to drive the protesters from the building amid clouds of tear gas and the sound of gunfire. The lawmakers were evacuated through underground tunnels, local media reported.In Washington, the White House said the United States was closely monitoring the situation in Nairobi and urging calm, Reuters reports.

Reuters reports that ambassadors and high commissioners from countries including Britain, the U.S. and Germany said in a joint statement they were deeply concerned by violence they had witnessed during recent anti-tax protests and called for restraint on all sides.

Kenyan activist Auma Obama, the half-sister of former U.S. President Barack Obama, was among protesters tear-gassed during the demonstrations, a CNN interview showed.

Internet services across the East African country experienced severe disruptions during the police crackdown, internet monitor Netblocks said. Kenya’s leading network operator Safaricom said outages had affected two of its undersea cables but the root cause of the disruptions remained unclear, Reuters reports.

Protests and clashes also took place in several other cities and towns across Kenya, with many calling for President William Ruto to quit office as well as voicing their opposition to the tax rises.

Reuters reports that parliament approved the finance bill, moving it through to a third reading by lawmakers. The next step is for the legislation to be sent to the president for signing. He can send it back to parliament if he has any objections.

Ruto won an election almost two years ago on a platform of championing Kenya’s working poor, but has been caught between the competing demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which is urging the government to cut deficits to obtain more funding, and a hard-pressed population.

Kenyans have struggled with several economic shocks caused by the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, two years of droughts and depreciation of the currency, Reuters reports.

The finance bill aims to raise an additional $2.7 billion in taxes as part of an effort to lighten Kenya’s heavy debt load, with interest payments alone consuming 37% of annual revenue.