Kenya protests turn deadly: What's happening in East African nation? 5 points

Peaceful protests in Kenya turned deadly on Tuesday (Jun 25) when police opened fire on demonstrators, who were raising their voices against proposed tax hikes and demanding President William Ruto's resignation. The protesters vowed to reject outright the government's new finance bill to raise taxes and lighten debt costs.

Kenyans protested against the new finance bill even though the government agreed to scrap some provisions in the draft law, such as taxes on bread, cars, cooking oil and sanitary towels. The Finance Bill 2024 proposes increased levies on a wide range of products and services which has angered citizens, who are already overburdened by the high cost of living.

Amid the chaos, Ruto addressedthe nation, calling protesters"criminals". He said, "I assure the nation that the government has mobilised resources to make sure that events such as this do not recur again."

Police open fire

Police were initially firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, but live use of bullets caused the deaths of at least five people, while injuring dozens. Local reports mentioned that 10 protesters died, but an official confirmation of the toll is awaited.

Parts of parliament set ablaze

A fire erupted at the governor's office in the capital city of Nairobi. TV footage showed protesters breaching the nearby parliament complex, which was also partly ablaze, with reports blaming protesters for the same. Police tried to douse the flames at City Hall with water cannons.

People abducted

Amnesty International claimed in a report published on Tuesday that the Police Reforms Working Group Kenya (PRWG-K) condemned the recent wave of abductions of citizens suspected of involvement in the protests.

The report mentioned that the abductions of at least 12 people, which occurred over the last five days and intensified last night, are a "gross violation" of human rights and amount to arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearance as prohibited under Article 29 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.

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Internet outage

Global web monitor NetBlocks said that a "major disruption" hit Kenya's internet service amid protests.

"Live network data show a major disruption to internet connectivity in #Kenya; the incident comes amidst a deadly crackdown by police on #RejectFinanceBill2024 protesters a day after authorities claimed there would be no internet shutdown," the watchdog said on X.

Military deployed

The government deployed the military to support embattled police officers, the defence minister said.

The military was deployed to support the police "in response to the security emergency caused by the ongoing violent protests" across Kenya "resulting in destruction and breaching of critical infrastructure", cabinet secretary Aden Bare Duale said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies)