Protests In Kenya Continued Despite Tax Increase Canceled, Police Fire Tear Gas

Kenyan President William Ruto (center)/PHOTO via X@ WilliamsRuto

JAKARTA - Kenyan police fired tear gas at dozens of protesters and blocked the road to the presidential palace.

Small demonstrations continued in several cities, after the president of Kenya confirmed that he would not sign the Financial Bill, aka cancel the plan to increase taxes.

Kenyan President William Ruto lifted the law on Wednesday, June 26, a day after clashes killed 23 people outside parliament who had been stormed and burned.

Ruto is grappling with the most serious crisis in his two-year term as president, as the protests movement has grown, led by young people from online condemnation of tax increases to mass demonstrations demanding a political reshuffle.

"Don't act stupid as we fight for a better Kenya," said Boniface Mwangi, a leading social justice activist, in an Instagram post quoted by Reuters on Thursday, June 27.

He voiced his support for demonstrations on Thursday but rejected calls to storm the State Building, the president's official office and the president's residence.

According to him, the plan could trigger more violence and be used to justify the crackdown.

In the capital, Nairobi, police and soldiers patrolled the streets on Thursday and blocked access to the State Building. Police fired tear gas to disperse dozens of people gathered in the city center.

Reuters journalists saw army vehicles on the streets after the government deployed the military to help police.

Elsewhere, hundreds of protesters gathered in the port city of Mombasa and in the western city of Kisumu, according to local television shows, although the meeting seemed peaceful.