Kenyan Activists Call for More Protests, Riot Police Patrol Nairobi

Kenyan President William Ruto/PHOTO via X@ WilliamsRuto

JAKARTA - Riot police patrol the streets of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, as young activists call for more protests following deadly clashes last week.

Members of the protest movement have rejected President William Ruto's call for dialogue, even after the president dropped plans for tax hikes.

Angered by the deaths last week - at least 39 people according to the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHCR) - many are now calling for Ruto to step down.

"We are determined to push for the president's resignation," Ojango Omondi, an activist in Nairobi, told Reuters on Tuesday, July 2. "We hope for peaceful protests and minimal loss of life, if any," he added.

What began as a social media outburst of anger over nearly $2.7 billion in tax hikes in the finance bill has snowballed into a nationwide movement against corruption and mismanagement, and become the most serious crisis of Ruto’s nearly two-year presidency.

Ruto is caught between demands from lenders such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is urging the heavily indebted government to cut its deficit, and a population burdened by soaring living costs.

Ruto has directed Treasury to look for ways to cut spending to plug the budget gap caused by the bill’s withdrawal, and has also said more borrowing is needed.