Kenyan minister accuses protesters of coup attempt after deadly demonstrations
Kenya's interior minister Kipchumba Murkomen accused protesters on Thursday of attempting to overthrow the government during a day of deadly demonstrations, remarks protest leaders said were an attempt to deflect attention from their demands.
Murkomen said at least 10 people had been killed in unrest the day before when youth-led demonstrations were followed by looting and arson in Nairobi and other cities. The rights group Amnesty Kenya said at least 16 people were killed, all by gunshots, which it said were suspected to have been fired by police.
Smoke was billowing from at least 10 torched buildings on Thursday in central Nairobi, where shopkeepers were cleaning up the charred wreckage of the overnight unrest.
Thousands of Kenyans participated in Wednesday's demonstrations, initially called to mark the anniversary of anti-government protests last year, and amplified by public anger over the death this month of a blogger in police custody.
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TimesLIVE
a day ago
- TimesLIVE
Kenyan minister accuses protesters of coup attempt after deadly demonstrations
Kenya's interior minister Kipchumba Murkomen accused protesters on Thursday of attempting to overthrow the government during a day of deadly demonstrations, remarks protest leaders said were an attempt to deflect attention from their demands. Murkomen said at least 10 people had been killed in unrest the day before when youth-led demonstrations were followed by looting and arson in Nairobi and other cities. The rights group Amnesty Kenya said at least 16 people were killed, all by gunshots, which it said were suspected to have been fired by police. Smoke was billowing from at least 10 torched buildings on Thursday in central Nairobi, where shopkeepers were cleaning up the charred wreckage of the overnight unrest. Thousands of Kenyans participated in Wednesday's demonstrations, initially called to mark the anniversary of anti-government protests last year, and amplified by public anger over the death this month of a blogger in police custody.
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Daily Maverick
Kenya's President Ruto faces major challenge as nation's young people risk death for a better life
An analyst said high unemployment, the disproportionate and violent police response to protests, and the abductions and disappearances of government critics were radicalising young Kenyans. Kenya is caught in a spiral of violence in which protests against corruption, misgovernance and police brutality spark further police brutality and these, in turn, inspire further protests. Underlying this feedback loop is a deep and abiding malaise felt mainly by young people over their deteriorating living conditions and prospects. Wednesday's demonstrations, in which at least 16 people died in the capital, Nairobi, and elsewhere in the country, were held mainly to commemorate the violent suppression of anti-tax protests a year ago when about 60 people were killed. Those protests peaked on 25 June 2024 when protesters stormed the parliament while MPs inside passed legislation to raise taxes. This week's anniversary marches started peacefully but then turned violent with protesters engaging in running battles with the police, who fired tear gas and barricaded government buildings with barbed wire. The demonstrators were also protesting at the death of the teacher Albert Ojwang in police custody this month after he accused on social media the country's deputy police chief, Eliud Lagat, of corruption. Some were also protesting against the police shooting of the vendor Boniface Kariuki at close range during a protest over Ojwang's death. President William Ruto's government ordered TV and radio stations to stop live broadcasts of the protests to try to defuse them. When the TV stations NTV, KTN, K24 and Kameme refused to do so, they were taken off air. 'We face an unfortunate paradox as a country where more lives are being lost as the people seek justice for the lives already lost,' said the Law Society of Kenya's president, Faith Odhiambo, on X. 'Our hearts break for all the victims of the continued trend of police brutality and excesses.' But the demonstrators, mostly young, are also expressing a growing frustration at corruption, unemployment and rising living costs. The major protests of a year ago were provoked by Ruto's introduction of a Bill to substantially increase taxes to balance the government's books. The unexpectedly vigorous protests eventually persuaded him to withdraw the Bill. Some Kenyan analysts say he surreptitiously dispersed the tax increases in other legislation. However, the imminent national Budget for this year is expected to focus on increasing tax revenue via higher compliance rather than imposing new taxes, according to Africa Confidential. Although protests peaked last year over Ruto's tax hike, street demonstrations continued intermittently. On 12 June, police used tear gas to disperse crowds which had gathered near the National Assembly to protest at Ojwang's killing and attempts by the police to cover it up. And abductions and disappearances of government critics continued. Strangled The police initially claimed that Ojwang (31) had died from 'hitting his head against a cell wall', implying that he had committed suicide. But a postmortem showed he had been strangled and beaten to death. On 11 June, Ruto admitted that Ojwang had been killed 'at the hands of the police' and described the killing as 'heartbreaking and unacceptable'. The same day, Inspector-General Douglas Kanja apologised to the National Assembly for saying that Ojwang's injuries had been self-inflicted. That day too, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority chairperson, Ahmed Issack Hassan, told a National Assembly committee that there had been '20 deaths in police custody in the last four months'. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged six people, including three police officers, for their role in killing Ojwang. But the move did not satisfy protesters, who complained that the three officers were taking the rap for Deputy Police Chief Lagat, who they believed was responsible for Ojwang's death. Some analysts believe Ruto's decision to acknowledge that the police were guilty was an encouraging if somewhat belated sign of accountability on his part. Others believe it was a sign of his anxiety about the growing protests and the need to deflect them, rather than evidence of genuine penitence. That it has taken so long for Ruto to finger the police suggests complicity in their previous excesses. One analyst, who did not wish to be named, said high unemployment, the disproportionate and violent police response, and the abductions and disappearances of government critics were radicalising young Kenyans. He noted that 60% of the population was under 25, and 75% under 35. 'Their grievances are legit. They need their country to work, yet Ruto is not doing the bare minimum to make the country work. He keeps shooting himself in the foot with 'reforms' that really ignore country context.' Protesters also felt that Ruto had lied to quell last year's protests with cosmetic reforms, such as firing the Cabinet, yet returning most of the ministers to office; withdrawing the finance Bill; and surreptitiously sneaking the bad proposals into other Bills. The protesters were also not convinced by Ruto's stratagem of bringing his erstwhile political rival, Raila Odinga, into a broad-based government. 'In short, Ruto squandered public trust and the political capital with which he came to power [in 2023] and now he believes using fiat and force, and increased surveillance will manage the country. 'He keeps on applying Band-Aid, while the young people, most of them who have already given up, want him to do the right thing. He threatens to kill them, and they tell him they are ready to be martyred,' said the analyst. DM
Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Daily Maverick
Eight reported dead, more than 400 injured after protests erupt in Kenya
Kenyan rights body says eight deaths have been reported while hundreds are injured, including from bullet wounds, in anti-government protests marking the anniversary of bloody anti-tax bill demonstrations last year. At least eight people died and 400 were injured during nationwide anti-government protests in Kenya on Wednesday, a year after deadly demonstrations against a tax bill, the national rights watchdog said. Thousands of Kenyans took to the streets to commemorate last year's demonstrations, in which more than 60 people died, with police firing tear gas and water cannon to disperse them in the capital Nairobi, according to local media and a Reuters witness. Some protesters clashed with police, and the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said late on Wednesday that eight deaths had been reported across the country, all 'allegedly from gunshot wounds'. 'Over 400 casualties have been reported, including demonstrators, police officers and journalists,' KNCHR said in a statement shared on its official X account. The watchdog did not say who had shot the victims, noting heavy police deployment and 'allegations of excessive use of force, including rubber bullets, live ammunition and water cannon, resulting in numerous injuries'. Kenyan police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the KNCHR statement. An official at the capital's main Kenyatta National Hospital said the facility had received dozens of wounded people, '107 admitted, most with gunshot injuries', the source said, referring to rubber bullets and live rounds. He said no deaths had been reported at the hospital. National electricity provider Kenya Power said one of its security guards was shot dead during the protests while patrolling its headquarters in Nairobi. Large crowds were seen earlier heading in the direction of State House, the president's official residence, in scenes broadcast by Kenyan channel NTV before it and another broadcaster, KTN, were pulled off the air after defying an order to stop live broadcasts of the demonstrations. 'We have been switched off from all the signal broadcasters, now we are only live on YouTube and the website,' a senior official at NTV's parent Nation Media Group told Reuters. Both channels resumed broadcasts later on Wednesday after a court in Nairobi suspended the order issued by the Communications Authority of Kenya. The communications authority's order was condemned by the Kenya Editors Guild, which called it 'a gross violation of the Constitution.' Anger against police Protesters torched court facilities in Kikuyu town on the outskirts of Nairobi, Citizen TV reported. Flames and thick smoke billowed from the court building in a video posted on the broadcaster's X account. Isolated clashes were reported in the port city of Mombasa, according to NTV, with protests also in the towns of Kitengela, Kisii, Matuu and Nyeri. Although last year's protests faded after President William Ruto withdrew proposed tax hikes, public anger has remained over the use of excessive force by security agencies, with fresh demonstrations this month over the death of a blogger in police custody. Six people, including three police officers, were charged with murder on Tuesday over the killing of 31-year-old blogger and teacher, Albert Ojwang. All have pleaded not guilty. Ojwang's death has become a lightning rod for Kenyans still mourning those who perished in last year's demonstrations, blamed on security forces, against a backdrop of dozens of unexplained disappearances. 'We are fighting for the rights of our fellow youths and Kenyans and the people who died since June 25 … we want justice,' Lumumba Harmony, a protester, told Reuters in Nairobi. The unprecedented scenes on 25 June 2024, showing police firing at protesters as they broke through barriers to enter parliament, created the biggest crisis of Ruto's presidency and sparked alarm among Kenya's international allies. DM
