Live Updates: Police Fire Arms Amid Tax Protests in Kenya; 5 Reported Killed (2024)

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Here’s the latest on the protests in Kenya.

Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets around the Parliament, some draped in the Kenyan flag and blowing whistles or chanting for the country’s president to resign. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse people in some areas.

A video posted to social media by the independent Kenya Human Rights Commission showed police firing as protesters marched toward them.

In a joint statement, the ambassadors of 13 Western embassies in Kenya, including the United States, said they were “shocked” by the scenes of violence outside Parliament.

The turmoil over the finance bill, which includes the tax hikes, has shaken Kenya, an East African economic powerhouse of 54 million people that has long been an anchor of stability in a tumultuous region. At least one person was killed and 200 others were injured in protests across the country last week, according to Amnesty.

The contentious bill was introduced by the government of President William Ruto in May to raise revenue and limit borrowing in an economy facing a heavy debt burden. But Kenyans have widely criticized the legislation, saying it adds punitive new taxes and raises others on a wide range of goods and services that would escalate living costs. Detractors have pointed to corruption and mismanagement of funds.

The president now has two weeks to sign the legislation into law or send it back to Parliament for further amendments.

Here’s what else to know:

• Before Tuesday’s protests, several activists who are prominent critics of the bill were abducted, according to the Law Society of Kenya. The abductors’ identities were not publicly known, but some were believed to be intelligence officers, said the Law Society’s president, Faith Odhiambo. Ms. Odhiambo later said that some of those abducted had been released.

• CNN aired footage of the half sister of former President Barack Obama, Auma Obama, being tear-gassed as she was interviewed about her opposition to the bill.

• The protests have largely been guided by younger people who have used social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to initiate a leaderless movement that has galvanized the nation.

• The protests comes as an initial group of 400 Kenyan police officers was arriving in Haiti for help to stop the rampant gang violence that has upended the Caribbean nation, an effort largely organized by the Biden administration.

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The Kenyan police are a force with a bloody past.

In the summer of 1990, Kenyans held one of their first major pro-democracy protests. Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Nairobi, the capital, calling for an end to the dictatorship that then ruled the country. The police responded by shooting dozens of them.

On Tuesday, after members of a youth-led protest movement stormed the Kenyan Parliament — furious about an increase in taxes — police officers, armed with tear gas and assault rifles, poured into the streets to confront them.

By the end of the afternoon, Amnesty International and Kenyan civic organizations reported that five people had died from gunshot wounds.

Images began to circulate of young men soaked in blood.

This came on the same day that hundreds of Kenyan police officers deployed to Haiti as part of an international mission to bring stability to that troubled Caribbean country. Many Kenyans had already raised questions about the appropriateness of their police handling this mission.

The Kenyan police force is an extension of a colonial-era creation that the British used to control the population and stamp out dissent. During the 1950s, as Kenyans began to assert their right to rule themselves, the police and other British-run security services rounded up tens of thousands of Kenyans and hanged more than a thousand. It was an especially disturbing chapter of British rule, detailed in an prizewinning book, Imperial Reckoning.

Independence in 1963 didn’t dramatically change policing. The police, and especially the paramilitary wing called the General Services Unit and another group known as the Flying Squad, became dreaded characters, known for quick trigger fingers and wide impunity.

During an election crisis in 2007 and early 2008, police officers killed dozens of protesters. There were even instances of officers seen on television fatally shooting unarmed demonstrators.

In 2009, the United Nations sent a special rapporteur, Philip Alston, to Kenya to investigate the situation. The report he delivered was a bombshell.

“Police in Kenya frequently execute individuals,” the report said. “Most troubling is the existence of police death squads.”

The Kenyan government vowed to revamp the services, and it set up an independent police watchdog. Western donors, especially the United States, pumped millions of dollars into training and other programs. The focus was to help make the Kenyan police more accountable and more effective at countering terrorism. Crowd control and the use of nonlethal methods was not the priority.

Last year, in the first round of anti-tax protests, at least nine people were killed during rowdy demonstrations and their violent suppression. On Tuesday, protesters went further than they had ever gone: They stormed the Parliament compound and set fire to the building’s entrance before it was put out.

Amnesty International issued a statement on Tuesday evening detailing the result:

“At least five people have died from gunshot wounds. Thirty-one people have been injured. 13 have been shot with live bullets, 4 with rubber bullets, and 3 people have been hit with launcher canisters,” the statement said.

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A half sister of Barack Obama is among those tear-gassed during protests in Nairobi.

“I am here because — look at what’s happening,” she told the interviewer. “Young Kenyans are demonstrating for their rights. They are demonstrating with flags and banners.”

Ms. Obama then began choking in a spreading cloud of tear gas lobbed by the police.

“I can’t even see anymore,” she said. “We are being tear-gassed.”

Ms. Obama grew up in Kenya and returned there as a community activist after studying and living in Germany and the United Kingdom. Her foundation in Kenya, Sauti Kuu, or Powerful Voices, serves children and young people, particularly from urban slums and rural communities.

Ms. Obama had earlier posted photos of herself at the protest on social media. As thousands marched to Parliament, police used tear gas and water cannons and opened fire. At least five people were killed and 31 people were wounded, according to several civic groups.

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The protests in Kenya have been driven by younger people.

“The politicians have for too long underestimated our power, energy and passion,” said Muchiri Mike, a 25-year-old content creator. “We are now asking questions and demanding answers, and they are surprised by this revolution happening at their doorsteps.”

Young Kenyans say that their movement transcends class, tribe or race, and that it is focused on helping millions of people attain economic security and social equality.

Besides organizing protests in almost three dozen counties across Kenya, young people have translated the bill into several local languages and used the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to simplify it. They have employed crowdsourcing to collect the contact information for lawmakers and urged constituents to call them about the bill.

They have also confronted officials at public gatherings and in houses of worship to show their displeasure, and have carried coffins to the offices of some lawmakers who support the legislation.

On Saturday night, nightclubs across Kenya played the national anthem to rally against the finance bill, and on Sunday church leaders and congregants raised their opposition to the tax bill at services.

Government officials have blamed unspecified foreign powers for stirring up the protests. And Parliament’s majority leader, Kimani Ichung’wah, dismissed the demonstrators as privileged youngsters who wield iPhones, arrive at demonstrations via Uber and then go eat at KFC.

Protesters hit back against that description. “It’s not about how we get to the protests, but why we are here in the streets,” said Anita Barasa, 19, whose TikTok videos about the demonstrations have gained a strong following. “They are trying to take attention away from our demands, but we, the cool kids, are seeing that we don’t have a bright future and want change.”

As tensions mounted over the bill in the past few days, some politicians praised the young protesters for taking a keen interest in the country’s future. At a church service on Sunday, President Ruto said he was “proud” of the demonstrating youth and promised to “have a conversation so that together we can build a great nation.”

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Kenyan-led forces arrive in Haiti after months of gang violence.

The officers are part of a deployment of police officers from eight nations who will fan out across the capital in an effort to wrest control of the city from dozens of armed groups that have attacked police stations, freed prisoners and killed with impunity.

Since the appeal for international help went out in October 2022, more than 7,500 people have been killed by violence — more than 2,500 people so far this year alone, the United Nations said.

With a weakened national government and the presidency vacant, dozens of gangs took over much of the capital earlier this year putting up roadblocks, kidnapping and killing civilians and attacking entire neighborhoods. About 200,000 people were forced out of their homes between March and May, according to the U.N.

Now an initial group of 400 Kenyan police officers have arrived to take on the gangs, an effort largely organized by the Biden administration. The Kenyans are the first to deploy of an expected 2,500-member force.

“You are undertaking a vital mission that transcends borders and cultures,” President William Ruto of Kenya told the officers on Monday. “Your presence in Haiti will bring hope and relief to communities torn apart by violence and ravaged by disorder.”

The Kenyan officers are expected to tackle a long list of priorities, among them retaking control of the country’s main port, as well as freeing major highways from criminal groups that demand money from drivers.

“Gang checkpoints on these roads are also a major source of their income generated by extorting money from everyone passing through and by kidnapping and holding people for hefty ransoms,” said William O’Neill, the U.N.’s human rights expert on Haiti.

“While much delayed, the arrival of the Kenyans comes at a good time,” particularly since a new police chief and prime minister have been named in recent weeks, he said.

A small assessment team from Kenya arrived in May to begin preparations but found the equipment lacking. That left the United States, the main supplier for the mission, rushing to find armored vehicles and other equipment.

“The Kenyans do not want to be one of these missions that show up on the ground and, for a month, they never leave their base,” Dennis B. Hankins, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, said in an interview. “They want to be able to see quickly that they are making an impact.’’

Haitian authorities have difficult decisions ahead, Mr. Hankins said, such as what should happen first: retaking control of the central hospital in Port-au-Prince, or securing the port so that fuel, food and other commodities can flow consistently.

The Kenyans will “support” the Haitian police, but not replace them, he said, so that when the mission ends their departure doesn’t create “a security vacuum.”

Officially called the Multinational Security Support Mission, the deployment is expected to last at least a year, according to the U.S. government. Sanctioned by the U.N. and mostly financed by the United States, its goal is to support the Haitian police and establish enough stability so the transitional government set up elections to choose a new president, as well as members of Parliament.

The U.S. military has flown more than 90 flights into Haiti to prepare for the mission, carrying more than 2,600 tons of supplies. Civilian contractors have been building sleeping quarters for the Kenyan officers at Toussaint Louverture Airport in Port-au-Prince.

In May, Haitian government officials began clearing the airport perimeter of hundreds of houses, which had made it easier for gangs to hide and fire at aircraft, forcing the airfield to close. The airport has reopened to commercial flights. But gang leaders have said that they will fight the Kenyans, who they consider invaders.

The gangs, the ambassador added, did not fight back while preparations at the airport were made, a sign that perhaps they are not willing to engage in direct combat with specialized forces, he said.

“As soon as we got the airport open and functional and we started seeing military flights, that had a real significant psychological impact on the population,” Mr. Hankins said.

Many experts are guarded in their assessment of the international force, mainly because aside from tackling the insecurity there is no comprehensive plan to address the root causes of Haiti’s many governance problems.

After Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to resign in late April, it took several weeks for political parties to agree on who would serve on a new transitional presidential council. It was a full month before a replacement for Mr. Henry took office.

Garry Conille, a former U.N. official, accepted the post in late May.

In a social media post late Monday, he said he hoped this mission would be Haiti’s last. The country has a long history of international interventions, including some that were marred by accusations of sexual exploitation and poor sanitation that led to widespread cholera.

So far, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Chad, Jamaica and Kenya have officially offered personnel for the mission.

But the mission has not received much financial commitment.

While Kenyan officials estimate the cost will run up to $600 million, a U.N. fund to pay for it has only $21 million. The United States has pledged more than $300 million to finance the mission.

The Kenyan deployment comes a month after Mr. Ruto of Kenya traveled to the United States at President Biden’s invitation. The four-day trip was the first state visit by a Kenyan president in two decades and the first by an African leader since 2008. The United States, Canada and France — Haiti’s biggest benefactors and allies — were unwilling to send troops of their own to Haiti.

Kenya was the first nation to publicly offer to do so. Many experts believed the mission would be more welcomed if was led by an African nation.

Experts say that Mr. Ruto, who won the presidency in 2022 after a closely contested election, was using the deployment to further boost his profile on the global stage.

The deployment comes even as Mr. Ruto faces massive protests nationwide against a finance bill that critics say will increase the already high cost of living.

The police fired tear gas and shots were heard on Tuesday as thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets around Kenya’s Parliament in Nairobi, the capital. Human rights advocates said that at least four people had been shot, one fatally.

A team of Haitian police commanders recently visited Nairobi, while Mr. Ruto held talks with the Haitian transitional presidential council.

At a police camp in Nairobi, officers have undergone physical and weapons training and received new helmets and body armor, according to interviews with officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak publicly to reporters.

They have also taken intensive French and Creole courses.

Beyond protecting key infrastructure, the officers at some point will be expected to secure the presidential palace, which remains in shambles after a 2010 earthquake but continues to be a symbolic place of power in Haiti.

But the contingent of 400 that arrived Tuesday is just a small step toward a large operation that will require many more people and resources to be effective, said Gédéon Jean, the executive director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, a Haitian organization that was forced to suspend its operations because of rising violence.

“So much remains to be done,” Mr. Jean said.

The initial group is likely to “play it safe” at the start, but even as more officers arrive from other countries, their task will be daunting, particularly since they have not worked together before, do not speak the same languages or have a shared “operational framework,” said Sophie Rutenbar, a visiting scholar at the New York University Center on International Cooperation who has worked in Haiti.

“The early deployment of this force is going to be very vulnerable,” Ms. Rutenbar said.

Eugene Chen, a former U.N. official who follows Haiti closely, said the international mission seemed to emerge out of a desperation to do something. Without finding ways to support Haiti’s political process, the mission could exacerbate the violence, Mr. Chen said.

“It’s not clear,” Mr. Chen added, “that this is the right answer.”

Andre Paultre contributed reporting from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and David C. Adams from Miami.

Despite days of protests, Kenyan lawmakers pass contentious tax increases.

The debate over the bill has shaken Kenya, an East African economic powerhouse of 54 million people that has long been an anchor of stability in a deeply tumultuous region. Protesters have taken to the streets in cities around the country for days. As thousands protested over the tax increases across the country last week, at least one person was killed and 200 others were injured, according to Amnesty International.

On Tuesday, CNN aired footage of the half-sister of former U.S. President Barack Obama, Auma Obama, being tear-gassed as she was interviewed about her opposition to the bill.

The contentious bill was introduced by the government of President William Ruto in May to raise revenue and limit borrowing in an economy facing a heavy debt burden. But Kenyans have widely criticized the legislation, saying it adds punitive new taxes and raises others on a wide range of goods and services that would escalate living costs.

The president now has two weeks to sign the legislation into law or send it back to Parliament for further amendments.

Before Tuesday’s demonstration, several activists who are prominent critics of the bill were abducted, according to the Law Society of Kenya. The abductors’ identities were not publicly known, but some were believed to be intelligence officers, said the Law Society’s president, Faith Odhiambo. Ms. Odhiambo later said that some of those abducted had been released.

Rights groups have long accused successive Kenyan governments of kidnapping critics and torturing them. The police did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, but Kenya’s chief justice, Martha Koome, condemned the abductions, calling them “a direct assault” on the rule of law.

Last week, as demonstrators packed the streets, lawmakers scrapped some taxes, including on bread, cooking oil and cars. But protesters have denounced other taxes, including on imported goods, and have urged the government to abandon the draft legislation.

“The audacity to raise taxes during these hard economic times, not listen to our concerns and then mistreat us shows how tone deaf the government is and how they don’t care about us,” said Kasmuel McOure, 26, a musician who was participating in Tuesday’s protests.

Detractors of the bill have pointed to corruption and mismanagement of funds, and faulted the opulent lifestyle and extravagant spending that they say have characterized the administration of Mr. Ruto, who has been in office since 2022. Kenyans have also faulted Mr. Ruto for reneging on campaign promises to champion the welfare of the poor and the interests of the striving Kenyans he called “hustlers.”

Opposition members of Kenya’s Parliament had rejected the draft legislation in its totality.

As the protests got underway on Tuesday, activists and critics said the early-morning abductions of some activists showed that the government was not ready to engage in a sincere dialogue.

Several protesters, including Mr. McOure, said they had received threats or intimidating phone calls in the days and hours leading up to the protests and were fearing for their lives, although they said they would not be silenced.

“No matter what they do, we will remain unbowed in our demand that we reject the finance bill,” Mr. McOure said.