Kenya: people plan to march across country to honour those killed in 2024’s anti-government protests – live
Welcome and opening summary
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the events unfolding in Nairobi, Kenya, today.
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Thousands of protesters have taken to Kenya’s streets to mark a year since people stormed parliament at the peak of anti-government demonstrations, despite fears that they would be met by state-backed gangs and police violence.
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Kenyans have planned to march across the country today to honour those who were killed during last year’s protests. The demonstrations last year saw at least 60 people being killed and many more disappearing.
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Early on Wednesday, police blocked major roads leading into the capitals central business district, while government buildings were barricaded with razor wire.
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The protests last year came as a response to a series of proposed tax increases which included hikes on sanitary towels, digital content, car ownership, and basics like oil and bread while many in the country were already grappling with a cost of living crisis.
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President William Ruto scrapped the bill in response to the backlash and restructured his cabinet to include opposition figures. However, deep resentment against the president has continued to rise and public anger over the use of force by security agencies has not abated.
Key events
In a joint statement on Tuesday, envoys from 12 countries including the US and the UK stated its support for “every Kenyan’s right to peaceful assembly and to express themselves” and urged all parties “to facilitate peaceful demonstrations and to refrain from violence”.
“The use of plain-clothed officers in unmarked vehicles erodes public trust,” the statement said.
Rights campaigners condemned the presence of unidentified police officers at protests last year.
The embassies said in their statement that they were troubled by the use of hired “goons” to disrupt peaceful demonstrations, after Reuters reporters saw groups of men beating protesters with sticks and whips last week.
Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday that any policing violations would be addressed through government institutions including parliament and the judiciary.
The counter-protesters have defended their actions, telling Reuters that they are not goons but rather patriots protecting property from looters.
My colleague and the Guardian’s East Africa correspondent in Kenya, Carlos Mureithi, has written an overview of the protests today in light of the first anniversary of parliament being stormed.
You can read Carlos’ article on the topic here: Fears of unrest as Kenyans mark first anniversary of storming of parliament
Parliament buildings and president’s office barricaded
Parliament and the president’s office in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, have been barricaded on Wednesday ahead of the protests, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
There was a heavy police presence and the roads leading to parliament were barricaded with razor wire, as was president William Ruto’s statehouse office.
During last year’s protests, demonstrators stormed parliament, burning part of the building as lawmakers fled. Bodies lay in the streets, and medical workers and watchdogs said police had opened fire. The military was also deployed.
Young Kenyans used social media to plan protests in remembrance of those who died last year. The government spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura, on Monday said there would be no protests, and that Wednesday was a “normal working day.”
But businesses in Nairobi on Wednesday remained closed and police limited the movement of vehicles into the central business district. Hundreds of Kenyans were already on the streets early in the morning, chanting anti-government slogans as police hurled teargas cannisters at some of the crowds.
Here are some of the pictures coming to us through the wires of the latest events unfolding in Nairobi:
Last year’s demonstrations, in which 60 people died and many more disappeared, were prompted by proposed tax increases.
The Kenyan government’s 2024 finance bill proposed a $2.7bn tax increase which included hikes on sanitary towels, digital content, car ownership, and basics like oil and bread, in a country already grappling with a particularly painful cost of living crisis.
Kenya’s cash-strapped government had said previously that the tax increases were necessary to service the huge public debt of 10tn shillings (£60bn), equal to roughly 70% of GDP.
Critics of the hikes began turning their attention to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was seen as the driving force behind president William Ruto’s since withdrawn plans.
Two weeks before the protests last year started, the Kenyan government and the IMF had a meeting where they agreed the government would increase taxes, reduce subsidies and cut government waste – in effect austerity measures – as conditions to access the IMF’s $3.9bn loan.
Ruto withdrew the bill a day after violent protests erupted around the country after its approval by parliament.
Welcome and opening summary
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the events unfolding in Nairobi, Kenya, today.
-
Thousands of protesters have taken to Kenya’s streets to mark a year since people stormed parliament at the peak of anti-government demonstrations, despite fears that they would be met by state-backed gangs and police violence.
-
Kenyans have planned to march across the country today to honour those who were killed during last year’s protests. The demonstrations last year saw at least 60 people being killed and many more disappearing.
-
Early on Wednesday, police blocked major roads leading into the capitals central business district, while government buildings were barricaded with razor wire.
-
The protests last year came as a response to a series of proposed tax increases which included hikes on sanitary towels, digital content, car ownership, and basics like oil and bread while many in the country were already grappling with a cost of living crisis.
-
President William Ruto scrapped the bill in response to the backlash and restructured his cabinet to include opposition figures. However, deep resentment against the president has continued to rise and public anger over the use of force by security agencies has not abated.
