Civil Unrest As Kenyans Revolt Against Lawmakers Over Controversial Taxes Proposition

At least five people have been confirmed dead with dozens of others injured in violent unrest that engulfed Kenya‘s capital Nairobi on Tuesday.

The unrest, as gathered was caused by Kenyans protesting over controversial tax changes by the Kenyan government.

Police reportedly shot at protesters who eventually overwhelmed police and stormed parliament after the plans to raise taxes passed.

The protesters stormed Kenya’s parliament and set sections of it alight as lawmakers inside passed changes to raise taxes. Parts of the parliamentary compound were set alight in the unrest.

Protesters overwhelmed police and chased them away in an attempt to storm the parliament compound.

Flames could be seen coming from inside.

Police opened fire after tear gas and water cannon failed to disperse the crowds.

A Reuters journalist counted the bodies of at least five protesters outside parliament, while paramedic Vivian Achista told the news agency at least 10 people have been killed in the violence.

Police eventually managed to drive the protesters from the building amid clouds of tear gas and the sound of gunfire. The politicians were evacuated through underground tunnels, local media reported.

Kenyan private broadcaster KTN News said on Tuesday that the East African nation’s authorities have threatened to shut it down over its coverage of the protests.

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Internet monitor Netblocks said internet services across the country also experienced severe disruptions during the police crackdown.

Parliament approved the finance bill, moving it through to a third reading by politicians.

The next step is for the legislation to be sent to the president for signing.

He can send it back to parliament if he has any objections.

The protesters oppose tax rises in a country already reeling from a cost-of-living crisis, and many are also calling for President William Ruto to step down.

“We want to shut down parliament and every MP should go down and resign,” one protester, Davis Tafari, trying to enter parliament, told Reuters.

“We will have a new government.”

President Ruto won an election almost two years ago on a platform of championing Kenya’s working poor but has been caught between the competing demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which is urging the government to cut deficits to access more funding, and a hard-pressed population.

Kenyans have been struggling to cope with several economic shocks caused by the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, two consecutive years of droughts, and depreciation of the currency.

The finance bill aims to raise an additional $US2.7 billion ($4.67b) in taxes as part of an effort to lighten the heavy debt load, with interest payments alone consuming 37 percent of annual revenue.

The government has already made some concessions, promising to scrap proposed new taxes on bread, cooking oil, car ownership, and financial transactions.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga called for the changes to be immediately and unconditionally withdrawn to make way for dialogue.

“I am disturbed at the murders, arrests, detentions, and surveillance being perpetrated by police on boys and girls who are only seeking to be heard over taxation policies that are stealing both their present and future,” he said in a statement.

Reuters