Demonstrators were protesting against legislation to raise taxes in country reeling from cost-of-living crisis
Police have opened fire on protesters outside Kenya’s parliament as they attempted to storm the building while MPs inside passed legislation to raise taxes.
Police started shooting after teargas and water cannon failed to disperse a crowd of thousands who had overwhelmed officers. Flames could be seen coming from inside the building.
A paramedic said at least 10 people had been killed and a Reuters journalist outside the parliament counted the bodies of at least five protesters.
“We want to shut down parliament and every MP should go down and resign,” one protester, Davis Tafari told the news agency. “We will have a new government.”
The demonstrators oppose tax rises in a country reeling from a cost-of-living crisis, and many are also calling for President William Ruto to step down. Protests and clashes also took place in other cities and towns across the country.
Ruto won an election almost two years ago on a platform of championing Kenya’s working poor, but has been caught between the competing demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which is urging the government to cut deficits to access more funding, and a hard-pressed population.
Kenyans have been struggling to cope with several economic shocks caused by the lingering impact of the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, two consecutive years of droughts and depreciation of the currency.
Parliament approved the finance bill on Tuesday, moving it through to a third reading by lawmakers. The next step is for the legislation to be sent to the president for signing. He can send it back to parliament if he has any objections.
The finance bill aims to raise an additional $2.7bn in taxes as part of an effort to lighten the heavy debt load, with interest payments alone consuming 37% of annual revenue.
The government has already made concessions, promising to scrap proposed new taxes on bread, cooking oil, car ownership and financial transactions. But that has not been enough to satisfy protesters.
