At least eight people dead as anti-government protests grip Kenya
Another 400 people were injured during the demonstrations, the national rights watchdog said, including protesters, police personnel and journalists. Some had gunshot wounds, it added.
Youth-led protests against police brutality and poor governance have erupted across Kenya again, with thousands making their way to the central business district in the capital, Nairobi.
The protests, which coincided with the first anniversary of demonstrations opposing tax hikes that left 60 people dead and 20 others missing, followed last week's rallies that demanded answers for the unexplained death of a Kenyan blogger while in police custody.
Frustration is growing, especially among Generation Z, over police violence, economic struggles, and government mismanagement.
The Communications Authority of Kenya has directed local media to stop all live broadcasts of the protests halfway through the day as President William Ruto warned that violence wouldn't be tolerated.
Many turned to social media to share updates and remember slain protesters. Others posted anti-government messages and memes. On the streets, some could be seen offering protesters water.
'Too many Kenyans are losing their lives'
Calls for accountability have grown louder in Kenya after a street hawker was killed during last week's protests. A Kenyan court has given detectives 15 days to complete investigations into two police officers suspected of the shooting.
This came as young people flooded social media platforms throughout the week with commemorations of protesters killed last year. At the time, Ruto apologised and vowed to end police brutality as the top police chief resigned.
'Not a single officer has been held to account,' said Hussein Khaled, a human rights activist, adding that people took to the streets 'to demand justice in terms of compensation ... arrest of those officers who were involved ... police reforms because too many Kenyans are losing their lives' to police brutality.
Last year's deadly protests strongly opposed a finance bill that raised taxes significantly to address debt, putting an undue burden on young, educated people struggling with unemployment and a rising cost of living. Ruto later scrapped the bill.
Some tax proposals were reintroduced later, drawing widespread criticism and calls for Ruto's resignation, following the appointment of a new but widely criticised cabinet. A revamped healthcare levy also changed standard premiums to a progressive tax, based on income.
Kenyan court declares Nairobi protest ban illegal
14:25
United Nations' data shows that 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africa is under the age of 30, with 67 percent of Kenya's young people unemployed.
'Both the health and the education sectors, which greatly affect the youth, are seemingly sinking due to misguided policies and failure to provide needed resources. At the same time, there appears to be unlimited funds for 'aristocratic' luxuries,' said Macharia Munene, professor of history and international relations at United States International University Africa in Nairobi, referring to some state people's spending that has been strongly condemned.
Ruto has been accused of misappropriating taxpayer money on lavish trips, most notably the use of a private jet on his trip to the United States right before last year's protests. He apologised and dismissed ministers accused of incompetence, corruption and displays of opulence amid complaints about the high cost of living.
Meanwhile, Kenya's opposition received its share of criticism, with many saying it avoided challenging the status quo after some of its members were appointed in Ruto's new cabinet
'Enough is enough ... We are here for change, it is time for us to get our nation (back),' said protestor Sevelina Mwihaki. 'The blood that we have shed is enough."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AFP
a day ago
- AFP
Old video of Museveni falsely linked to Kenya's recent anniversary demonstrations
'President Museveni not happy for Kenyan police using excessive force on protesters (sic),' reads the text overlaid on a TikTok video published on July 11, 2025, and shared more than 8,000 times. Additional text overlay quoted in English and Swahili reads: 'Do not point your guns at civilians, they are not enemies,' while the accompanying caption on the post reads, 'Museveni criticized Kenyan President William Ruto for police brutality on protesters.' Image Screenshot of the false post, taken on July 21, 2025 The video shows Museveni dressed in a military uniform, giving an address while holding a Y-shaped stick. 'Even if you're guarding, don't point your gun towards the citizens, direct it at your enemies. Yesterday I was seeing those young boys,' Museveni says in the clip as he makes shooting gestures towards the audience. 'That's very bad orientation. It means you don't know who the enemy is.' 'Even if they say 'control the crowd', your gun should be on your back like this,' he adds, pointing at his own back. Similar claims were published on elsewhere on TikTok, Facebook and X. Shooting orders The video was shared on the heels of Kenya's 35th anniversary of the 'Saba Saba' (Swahili for 'Seven Seven') pro-democracy protests of July 7, 1990, which paved the way for Kenya's multi-party democracy (archived here). This year's Saba Saba commemorations were marked by nationwide protests, characterised by a violent police response, death, looting and destruction (archived here, here and here). Ruto claimed the protests were an attempt by the opposition to 'overthrow' his government, telling the police, 'Anyone who burns down someone else's business and property, let them be shot in the leg and go to the hospital as they head to court. Yes, let them not kill, but shoot and break the legs' (archived here and here). The directive came just weeks after Kenya's minister of interior and national administration, Kipchumba Murkomen, ordered police to shoot anybody approaching a police station, following similarly violent prior protests that saw several police stations vandalised (archived here and here). However, the social media posts with a clip purportedly showing Museveni reacting to the recent events in Kenya are fals Unrelated old video At no point in the clip does Museveni mention Ruto, the Kenyan police or the recent protests. AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches for keyframes from the video, and the results established that the clip predates the recent unrest in Kenya. The clip was originally published by Ugandan media outlet NBS Television on January 5, 2020 (archived here). 'President Museveni says that the Police should have their guns behind their backs when asked to control the crowd,' reads the post. VIDEO: President Museveni says that the Police should have their guns behind their backs when asked to control the crowd. @KagutaMuseveni: It means you don't know who the enemy is.#NBSUpdates# — NBS Television (@nbstv) January 5, 2020 In both videos, the Ugandan leader is seen in identical attire, holding the same stick, and standing behind two microphones with yellow mic foam covers. An orange tent is also visible in the background. Image Screenshots comparing the false post (left) and the original clip published by NBS Television At the time, Museveni had embarked on a six-day trek dubbed 'Africa Kwetu' ("Our Africa"), a 195-kilometre walk retracing the route his National Resistance Army (NRA) guerrilla forces took when they seized power in 1986 (archived here). We found no credible source of evidence showing Museveni commenting on the recent demonstrations in Kenya. However, he did speak about Kenya's 2024 anti-tax protests, which culminated in a breach of parliament, warning Ugandan youth against staging similar protests in their own country (archived here and here).
LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
In Gaza, the humanitarian deal between the EU and Israel collapses
Overnight from Sunday, July 20, to Monday, July 21, a World Health Organization (WHO) warehouse in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, was targeted by an Israeli airstrike. The facility burned and its roof collapsed. On Monday afternoon, the building housing the medical agency's staff was also struck by an Israeli projectile. The team was forced to evacuate the area. By Tuesday, one of its members was still being detained by Israeli forces. Deir al-Balah, home to teams from numerous NGOs and United Nations agencies, is Gaza's humanitarian hub – the main center for aid operations to the population. Its targeting marks a new red line crossed by Israel. Until now, the area had been spared by Israel's offensive. On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned "the horror show in Gaza, with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times. Malnourishment is soaring. Starvation is knocking on every door." On July 10, Kaja Kallas, the European Union's head of foreign policy, announced that an agreement had been reached with Israel to allow large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Two weeks later, this arrangement – struck in exchange for the 27 member states refraining from imposing sanctions on Israel – already appears to have been disregarded.
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
ICJ to hand down watershed climate opinion
It is the biggest case ever heard at the International Court of Justice and experts say judges' opinion could reshape climate justice forever, with major impacts on laws around the world. The ICJ advisory opinion is "potentially one of the most consequential legal rulings of our times," said Joie Chowdhury, Senior Attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, an advocacy group that backs the case. It could "define a new era, where climate justice is not a distant aspiration, but a global mandate for the here and now," added Chowdhury. The United Nations has tasked the 15 ICJ judges to answer two fundamental questions that, according to Chowdhury, "strike at the heart of climate justice." First: what must states do under international law to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions "for present and future generations"? Second: what are the consequences for states whose emissions have caused environmental harm, especially to vulnerable low-lying island states? To help answer these questions, ICJ judges have pored over tens of thousands of pages of submissions from countries and organisations around the world. Analysts say Wednesday's ruling is the most consequential of a string of recent rulings on climate change in international law. Courts have become a battleground for climate action as frustration has grown over sluggish progress toward curbing planet-warming pollution from fossil fuels. The Paris Agreement struck through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has rallied a global response to the crisis, but not at the speed necessary to protect the world from dangerous overheating. 'Disappear beneath the waves' In December, the iconic Peace Palace in the Hague hosted the court's biggest-ever hearings, with more than 100 nations and groups giving oral statements. In what was billed a "David Vs Goliath" battle, the debate pitted major wealthy economies against smaller, less developed states most at the mercy of a warming planet. Major polluters including the US and India warned the ICJ not to deliver a fresh legal blueprint for climate change, arguing the existing UNFCCC sufficed. The US, which has since withdrawn from the Paris accord, said the UNFCCC contained legal provisions on climate change and urged the court to uphold this regime. But smaller states said this framework was inadequate to mitigate climate change's devastating effects and that the ICJ's opinion should be broader. These states also urged the ICJ to impose reparations on historic polluters. "The cardinal principle is crystal clear. Responsible states are required to make full reparation for the injury they have caused," said Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh representing Vanuatu. These states demanded a commitment and timeline to phasing out fossil fuels, monetary compensation when appropriate, and an acknowledgement of past wrongs. Representatives from island states, many wearing traditional dress as they addressed the court for the first time in their country's history, made passionate pleas to the robed judges. "Despite producing less than 0.01 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, on the current trajectory of GHG emissions, Tuvalu will disappear completely beneath the waves that have been lapping our shores for millennia," said Eselealofa Apinelu from Tuvalu. The ICJ's advisory opinions are not binding upon states and critics say that top polluters will simply ignore what comes out of the court. But others note the moral and legal clout enjoyed by the world's highest court and hope the opinion will make a tangible difference to national climate change policies. "The impacts of climate change, absolutely dire right now, will become catastrophic as the years go by, if we do not course-correct," said Vishal Prasad, director of a campaign by Pacific Island students that pushed the issue before the court. "The urgency of the matter, the seriousness of why we're here, and how important this is, is not lost upon all Pacific Islanders, all small island countries. "That's why we're looking to the ICJ."
