Riot police have fired tear gas at protesters in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, as demonstrations erupted in several cities.
DW
Fresh protests have flared again in several cities in Kenya, with demonstrators facing a heavy police presence.
In the capital, Nairobi, police fired tear gas at protesters after they set fires on the main road running through the center of the city and threw stones at police in the central business district.
DW correspondent Sella Oneka said she saw “small groups of protesters being chased by police,” with officers sporadically firing tear gas and making arrests.
But outside of Kenya’s parliament, where thousands of people had tried stormed the compound last Tuesday in anger over proposed tax hikes, it was quiet, she said.
Tuesday’s rallies come despite President William Ruto bowing to pressure from the protesters and abandoning the unpopular Finance Bill last week.
Protesters seeking ‘justice’ for those killed
“We are here today to continue with the protests, we must make sure our concerns are heard,” human rights lawyer Hussein Khalid, the head of the Kenyan-based rights group Haki Africa, told DW. “And we are standing together with our fallen comrades who have been killed and demanding justice for them.”
According to the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, 39 people have been killed and 361 injured during two weeks of youth-led demonstrations, with 32 enforced disappearances. A number of these occurred last week when police fired live bullets at protesters as they breached the parliament complex.
Protester Philip Mslo told DW that even though far fewer young people had turned out on Tuesday compared to last week, he felt it was “really important to show up for my brothers and sisters … and unite.”