Kenyans shot dead amid protests against tax hikes

Police in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have shot dead at least five people during huge protests against planned tax increases, according to the Kenya Medical Association.

A journalist form the Reuters news agency also reported counting the bodies of at least five protesters outside parliament.

Earlier, the crowds broke through police cordons and entered parliament, setting part of the complex alight. Fire also broke out in Nairobi City Hall.

About 40 people are being treated in hospital.

According to Mercy Juma, “I’m outside the emergency unit at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. Ambulances are coming in with casualties – about four in the last 30 mins. Motorbikes are bringing people in too. Some people have already been bandaged up. Most of the injured are men. They look very young and are definitely protesters. Hospital staff have set up a temporary structure outside the unit to receive more casualties. It feels quite safe here. There are no police checks at the entrance to the hospital or police on the hospital grounds.”

A Kenya Red Cross says its vehicles have been attacked and their staff and volunteers injured while transporting wounded people away from the protests. “We can’t provide life-saving interventions without access and safety for our staff and volunteers.

“It is crucial that we are granted access to continue our humanitarian efforts without hindrance,” the charity posted on X.

It did not say who had attacked its vehicles or injured its staff and volunteers.

The Reuters news agency is reporting that protesters have been driven from parliament amid clouds of tear gas and the sound of gunfire.

Some lawmakers were evacuated through tunnels, the agency said.

Earlier some had entered the parliamentary complex and began damaging some of the things inside.

For several weeks, Kenyans have been protesting over a finance bill that proposed tax rises. Many felt that they were already burdened with a high cost of living.

The government has said that it needs to increase the money it gets in order to fund services without increasing the debt burden.

Among the initial proposals were a 16% sales tax on bread and a 25% duty on cooking oil.

In response to the outcry, the government rowed back on these and other measures, but an amended bill was passed on Tuesday that still included tax rises.

The eco-levy was maintained that would increase the cost of imported products such as sanitary pads and babies’ nappies – though not on those products made in Kenya.

President William Ruto has acknowledged the protests and promised he would hold talks to address the concerns of the youth who are at the forefront of the demonstrations.

But that did little to calm tensions.

Kenya is bleeding – Catholic

Kenya’s influential Catholic bishops are urging the government to give time to aggrieved citizens and address the “pain caused by the escalating cost of living” in the country.

“We plead with the president to listen to the voices of so many Kenyans. The country is bleeding,” the bishops say in a statement.

“Young people are right to express their desperation.”

They condemned the use of excessive force by police and urged the young people to avoid destroying property.

The demonstrations across Kenya were sparked by a controversial finance bill that was passed on Tuesday that raises a number of different taxes.

The government had earlier withdrawn a number of the most controversial measures – such as a tax on bread and cooking oil, but this did not assuage people’s anger.

Source: BBC