Kenya’s capital city has been plunged into chaos amid riots over tax hikes, with a blaze erupting at the country’s parliament and cops opening fire with live ammunition on crowds of angry protesters.
Thousands of anti-tax demonstrators broke through barriers erected by the police outside the parliament building in Nairobi, forcing legislators to urgently evacuate.
Ten people have been killed in the violent clashes, with police firing live rounds at the anti-government protesters. Paramedics have reported that the gunfire has left at least 50 people injured.
Video shows smoke rising from parts of the government building as crowds swarmed through its gates, with projectiles also seen being thrown.
Demonstrators streamed into the complex where lawmakers were debating contentious tax hike proposals that have sparked widespread anger.
Medics set up emergency response temporary shelters in different cities with supplies donated by Kenyans. Two people died in far smaller-scale protests last week.
The latest round of protests today took place as lawmakers vote on the finance bill that would introduce new taxes, including an eco-levy that would raise the price of goods like sanitary towels and diapers.
A proposal to tax bread was removed after public outcry but demonstrators are still calling on Parliament not to pass the bill.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission on Tuesday shared a video of officers shooting at protesters and said they would be held to account.
The commission wrote on X addressing President William Ruto: ‘The world is watching your descent into tyranny!
‘Your regime’s actions is an assault on democracy. All those involved in the shooting – actively or passively – must be held to account.’
The Kenya Law Society President Faith Odhiambo on Tuesday said 50 Kenyans, including her personal assistant, had been ‘abducted’ by people believed to be police officers. She said there were instances of extrajudicial killings, police abductions, torture and people kept incommunicado for several days.
Some of those missing included those who were vocal in the ongoing demonstrations and were taken away from their homes, workplaces and public spaces in the run-up to the Tuesday protests, according to civil society groups.
Police officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Parliament Speaker Moses Wetangula on Tuesday directed the inspector general of police to provide information on the whereabouts of those the opposition said were abducted by police.
Ruto on Sunday said he was proud of the young people who had come out to exercise their democratic duty and said he would engage the youth on their concerns. Ruto was outside the capital attending an African Union retreat.
Unrest has persisted in the country over the controversial tax bill despite some of the proposed increases being scrapped.
Among the scrapped tax hikes was a proposed 16 per cent VAT on bread, as well as proposed taxes on motor vehicles, vegetable oil and mobile money transfers, the chairman of Kenya’s Finance and National Planning Committee.
‘When we started the public participation in the finance bill of 2024, we did make a promise that public participation would not be an exercise in futility. We have listened to the view of Kenyans,’ Kuria Kimani said in a speech last week.
Changes to the finance bill were driven by a ‘need to protect Kenyans from increased cost of living,’ Kimani said.
But the dramatic scenes today highlight how many have been left far from satisfied by the governments’ actions.
The measures have failed to allay fears that the tax hikes will worsen the cost-of-living crisis in the country.
The mass outbreak of violence comes just a day after US president Joe Biden designated Kenya as a major non-NATO ally.
While this doesn’t automatically mean a defence pact between the two nations has been agreed, it does mean that Kenya now has access to special military and financial advantages that other nations do not.
Biden said in a memo to Congress last month: ‘Kenya is one of the United States Government’s top counterterrorism and security partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and the designation will demonstrate that the United States sees African contributions to global peace and security as equivalent to those of our Major Non-NATO Allies in other regions.’