06/25/2024 – 19:46
Protesters angry with tax increases invade the Legislative headquarters and are brutally repressed by the police, resulting in deaths and injuries. NGOs denounce the use of live ammunition by security forces. Protesters in Nairobi invaded the Kenyan Parliament this Tuesday (25/09) and set part of the building on fire, amid a wave of protests against a fiscal reform introduced by the president’s government William Ruto.
Thousands of people invaded the Legislative headquarters, which caused parliamentarians to flee and a brutal repression by security forces, amid the most violent protests in decades against the Kenyan government.
The protests that began last week were mostly peaceful. Unlike previous anti-government acts, which were often violent and led by political leaders, this month’s demonstrations were called by groups of young people.
The revolt against tax increases and dissatisfaction with the crisis generated by the rise in the cost of living fueled the protests and took the government by surprise. But as the movement grew, riots and violence increased in the Kenyan capital, with crowds attacking barricades and clashing directly with police.
The Armed Forces were sent to support the police. NGOs in Nairobi said security forces opened fire on protesters using live ammunition. Several entities, including Amnesty Kenya, reported that at least five people died and another 31 were injured, 13 of them by gunshots.
Tax reform as a trigger
More than 300 people were arrested in Nairobi this Tuesday, and last week there were at least 105 arrests across the country. In the capital, 200 people were injured and two protesters were killed.
In the invasion of Parliament, the attackers broke furniture, windows and flags, and accused politicians of being “traitors”, after parliamentarians preliminarily approved the controversial Finance Bill 2024.
With this project, the government intends to raise 2.7 billion dollars (R$14 billion) in additional taxes to reduce the budget deficit and state debt. Protesters, however, argue that such measures will leave the population even more impoverished.
President promises to punish “treason”
Kenyan President William Ruto has vowed to crack down hard on what he called “violence and anarchy” in Nairobi. “We will give a complete, effective and immediate response to the acts of treason,” he said at a press conference, saying the protests were “hijacked by dangerous people.”
Ruto – himself one of the main targets of the demonstrations – said it was unacceptable that “criminals pretending to be peaceful protesters reign terror against the people, their elected representatives and institutions established under our Constitution and expect to get away with it”.
The United States appealed for calm to prevail in Kenya. Several other nations – including Germany, France and the United Kingdom – condemned the acts of violence in the African country.
UN Secretary of State, António Guterres, said he was deeply concerned and saddened by the reports of deaths and injuries. The chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, called for an end to the violence.
rc (AP, Reuters, EFE)
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