Kenyan police said they have arrested more than 270 people masquerading as protesters who are suspected of going on a criminal rampage during anti-government rallies on Tuesday.

Widespread looting and property damage were reported during the youth-led demonstrations in various cities across the country, which some protesters said had been infiltrated by “goons”.

“Security forces across the country singled out suspects found engaging in criminal activities in the guise of protesting, and took them to custody,” the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, late Tuesday.

It said a total of 204 suspects were arrested in the capital, Nairobi and another 68 in various other areas of the country.

“The DCI has further deployed scrupulous investigators across the affected regions to pursue suspects captured on CCTV cameras and mobile phone recordings violently robbing, stealing and destroying the properties and businesses of innocent citizens,” the statement added.

Tuesday’s demonstrations began in an atmosphere of calm but later degenerated into violence, with police firing tear gas at rock-throwing crowds in Nairobi and scenes of looting and property damage in the capital and other cities.

Kenya was bracing on Tuesday for fresh protest action against the government after anti-tax hike demonstrations last month descended into violence that left dozens of people dead.

Activists have stepped up their campaign against President William Ruto despite his announcement last week that he would not sign into law a controversial finance bill that triggered what he has branded “treasonous” protests.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said on Monday that 39 people had been killed and 361 injured during two weeks of demonstrations, and condemned the use of force against protesters as “excessive and disproportionate.”

Largely peaceful rallies against a raft of tax increases — led by mostly young Gen-Z Kenyans on social media — turned into shocking scenes of deadly chaos on Tuesday last week when lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular legislation.

After the announcement of the vote, crowds ransacked the parliament complex in central Nairobi and it was partly set ablaze as police fired live bullets at protesters.

Ruto had said in a television interview on Sunday that 19 people had lost their lives, but defended his decision to call in the armed forces to tackle the unrest and insisted he did not have “blood on my hands.”

It is the most serious crisis to confront the president since he took office in September 2022 following a deeply divisive election in a nation often considered a beacon of stability in a turbulent region.

Ruto’s decision on Wednesday to reverse course and scrap the tax legislation has appeared not to have appeased his critics.

And despite him saying he was ready to talk with young Kenyans about their grievances, activists have vowed to pursue their protests, with leaflets posted on social media calling for more action this week.

“We will not relent until William Ruto unconditionally resigns,” insisted one leaflet with the hashtag “RutoMustGo”.

It declared both Tuesday and Thursday public holidays for an “OccupyEverywhere” movement and called on all Kenyans to stage sit-down protests on major roads in the country on those days.

• ‘Unwarranted violence’ –
  The state-funded KNCHR said Monday that in addition to the dead and injured in the previous protests, there had been 32 cases of “enforced or involuntary disappearances” and 627 arrests of protesters.

“The Commission continues to condemn in the strongest terms possible the unwarranted violence and force that was inflicted on protesters, medical personnel, lawyers, journalists and on safe spaces such as churches, medical emergency centres and ambulances,” the KNCHR said.

It also said it “strongly condemns the violent and shocking acts of lawlessness that was exhibited by some of the protesters” including attacks on the parliament and other government buildings.

The body also highlighted what it said were “unacceptable” incidents of the “wanton destruction” of property linked to some politicians and threats and violence against them.

Kenya’s cash-strapped government had said previously that the tax increases were necessary to fill its coffers and service a massive public debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), or about 70 per cent of GDP.

Ruto had already rolled back some tax measures after the protests began, prompting the Treasury to warn of a gaping budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings ($1.6 billion).

In Sunday’s interview, Ruto warned that the government would have to borrow another $7.7 billion because of the decision to drop the finance bill.

At least 30 people died in protests in Kenya this week sparked by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the East African country, Human Rights Watch said Saturday.

“Kenyan security forces shot directly into crowds of protesters on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, including protesters who were fleeing,” the NGO said in a statement.

“Although there is no confirmation on the exact number of people killed in Nairobi and other towns, Human Rights Watch found that at least 30 people had been killed on that day based on witness accounts, publicly available information, hospital and mortuary records in Nairobi, as well as witness accounts,” the statement said.

“Shooting directly into crowds without justification, including as protesters try to flee, is completely unacceptable under Kenyan and international law,” said Otsieno Namwaya, associate Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“The Kenyan authorities need to make clear to their forces that they should be protecting peaceful protesters and that impunity for police violence can no longer be tolerated,” Namwaya added.

The largely peaceful rallies turned violent on Tuesday when lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular tax increases following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

After the announcement of the vote, crowds stormed the parliament complex and a fire broke out in clashes unprecedented in the history of the country since its independence from Britain in 1963.

President William Ruto’s administration ultimately withdrew the bill.

-IMF pressure –
The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said it had recorded 22 deaths and 300 injured victims, adding it would open an investigation.

“Eight military officers came out and just opened fire on people. They killed several people, including those who were not part of the protests,” HRW quoted a rights activist in Nairobi as saying.

“Kenya’s international partners should continue to actively monitor the situation… and further urge Kenyan authorities to speedily but credibly and transparently investigate abuses by the security forces,” the rights watchdog said.

Ruto had already rolled back some tax measures after the protests began, prompting the treasury to warn of a gaping budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings ($1.6 billion).

The cash-strapped government had said previously that the increases were necessary to service Kenya’s massive debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), equal to roughly 70 percent of GDP.

The Washington-based IMF has urged the country to implement fiscal reforms in order to access crucial funding from the international lender.

“The bill was expected to raise an additional $2.3 billion in the next fiscal year, in part to meet IMF requirements to increase revenues,” HRW said.

“Widespread outrage should be a wake-up call to the Kenyan government and the IMF that they cannot sacrifice rights in the name of economic recovery,” Namwaya said.

“Economic sustainability can only be achieved by building a new social contract that raises revenues fairly, manages them responsibly, and funds services and programs that protect everyone’s rights.”

Kenya’s President, William Ruto, has explained his decision to withdraw the controversial Finance Act bill, which included tax hikes, following the death of 22 individuals in violent youth protests.

He said, “I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill and it shall subsequently be withdrawn”.

The president added, “The people have spoken.”

Meanwhile, Ruto warned that withdrawing the bill will significantly reduce funding for development programs.

Last week, youths frustrated by economic hardship took to the streets to protest against the tax hikes proposed in Kenya’s Finance Act put forward by Parliament.

The largely peaceful rallies turned violent on Tuesday when lawmakers passed the legislation, and police fired live rounds into crowds ransacking the partly ablaze parliament complex.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reported 22 deaths and 300 injured victims from the protest.

Five people were shot dead and dozens wounded in Kenya on Tuesday in mounting anti-tax hike protests, NGOs said, as police clashed with demonstrators who stormed the parliament compound in Nairobi.

Police fired tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets and, according to a rights group, live ammunition against protesters, as tensions sharply escalated in protests that have caught the government off guard.

“Despite the assurance by the government that the right to assembly would be protected and facilitated, today’s protests have spiralled into violence,” said a joint statement from several NGOs, including Amnesty Kenya, which reported the dead and wounded.

The White House appealed for calm and more than 10 Western nations to voiced their deep concern over the violence.

The mainly Gen-Z-led rallies have galvanised outrage over proposed tax hikes and simmering anger over a cost-of-living crisis.

“This is the voice of the young people of Kenya,” said Elizabeth Nyaberi, 26, a lawyer at a protest. “Although they are tear-gassing us, but we don’t care.”

“We are here to speak for our generations and the generations to come,” she added.

The protests had been largely peaceful so far but chaos erupted in the capital Tuesday, with crowds throwing stones at police, pushing past barricades and ultimately entering the grounds of Kenya’s parliament.

Amid the clashes, global web monitor NetBlocks reported that a “major disruption” had hit the country’s internet service.

In the aftermath of parliament’s breach, local TV showed images of ransacked rooms with smashed windows, while cars parked outside were vandalised and flags destroyed, according to an AFP reporter.

The governor’s office in Nairobi City Hall — just a few hundred metres from parliament — was set alight, footage on privately owned Citizen TV showed, with a water canon attempting to douse the fire.

After reports that live ammunition was fired at protesters, Kenya’s main opposition coalition, Azimio, said the government had “unleashed brute force on our country’s children”.

“Kenya cannot afford to kill its children just because the children are asking for food, jobs and a listening ear,” it said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, despite the heavy police presence, thousands of protesters had marched peacefully through Nairobi’s business district, pushing back against barricades as they headed towards parliament.

As protesters gained ground in their push towards parliament, many were livestreaming the action as they sang and beat drums.

Crowds also marched in the port city of Mombasa, the opposition bastion of Kisumu, and Kenyan President William Ruto’s stronghold of Eldoret, images on Kenyan TV channels showed.

-‘At a crossroads’ –
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority watchdog and rights groups said that two people had died following Thursday’s rallies in Nairobi.

Several organisations, including Amnesty International Kenya, said at least 200 people were wounded in last week’s protests in Nairobi.

Amnesty’s Kenya chapter posted on X Tuesday that “the pattern of policing protests is deteriorating fast”, urging the government to respect demonstrators’ right to assembly.

Rights watchdogs have also accused the authorities of abducting protesters.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission said the abductions had mostly occurred at night and were “conducted by police officers in civilian clothes and unmarked cars”, calling for the “unconditional release of all abductees.”

Police have not responded to AFP requests for comment on the allegations.

-Debt mountain –
The cash-strapped government agreed last week to roll back several tax increases.

But it still intends to raise other taxes, saying they are necessary for filling the state coffers and cutting reliance on external borrowing.

Kenya has a huge debt mountain whose servicing costs have ballooned because of a fall in the value of the local currency over the last two years, making interest payments on foreign-currency loans more expensive.

The tax hikes will pile further pressure on Kenyans, with well-paid jobs remaining out of reach for many young people.

After the government agreed to scrap levies on bread purchases, car ownership and financial and mobile services, the treasury warned of a budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings ($1.56 billion).

The government now intends to target an increase in fuel prices and export taxes to fill the void left by the changes, a move critics say will make life more expensive in a country already saddled with high inflation.

Kenya has one of the most dynamic economies in East Africa but a third of its 52 million people live in poverty.

(Credit: AFP)