At least 8 killed as protesters battle police in Kenya

At least eight people were killed and hundreds were injured in Kenya on Wednesday, rights groups said, as thousands faced off with the police amid nationwide protests that laid bare the anger at President William Ruto’s government.

The police fired live rounds, rubber bullets, and tear gas and sprayed water cannons at protesters who were waving Kenyan flags and blowing whistles in central Nairobi, where banks and businesses were closed amid a heavy security presence. Officers also closed some major roads leading to the city centre and blocked routes connecting to Parliament with barbed wire.

Wednesday’s marches marked the anniversary of huge demonstrations against a contentious tax plan, which ended last year with more than 60 people dead. In the wake of those protests, dozens of people, including activists, medical workers and social media influencers, were abducted, interrogated and tortured, according to interviews with activists and rights lawyers.

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This year’s protests have already proved dangerous. At least 400 people were injured in Wednesday’s protests, 83 of them seriously, an alliance of grass-roots organisations said in a statement late on Wednesday.
At least eight demonstrators received medical care for gunshot injuries, and among the wounded were three police officers, those groups said.

“Many of us are being killed with no reason,” said Don Cliff Ochieng, a 24-year-old security guard in Nairobi who said that he was protesting because of the lack of economic opportunities and police brutality. “It is our right to demonstrate,” he added.

On Tuesday, Kenya’s top police official, Douglas Kanja Kirocho, urged the public in a statement to “refrain from provocative acts directed at police officers in the execution of their duties.”
Kenya’s government directed all television and radio stations to cease live coverage of the protests, a move widely criticised by media associations and rights groups. At least two private stations said that the authorities had switched off their signals. There was also a restriction on the messaging app Telegram, according to the internet watchdog group NetBlocks.