Police fire tear gas as protests continue

Kenyan police have fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital, Nairobi.

There has been a heavy deployment of security forces, including the military, and roads are blocked around key buildings in the city ahead of the protests.

This comes two days after 22 people reportedly lost their lives in protests against tax hikes, which saw part of parliament set alight.

The next day, President William Ruto bowed to pressure and said he would withdraw the finance bill containing the unpopular tax proposals.

Demonstrators had vowed to gather again in Nairobi’s city centre to mourn those killed. Some have been demanding the president’s resignation.

Some have also vowed to march to the president’s official residence, State House.

Other prominent people linked to the protests have been warning against this because of the risk of further violence.

Roads leading to the building have been blocked, with officers turning away some motorists and pedestrians.

Earlier on Thursday, local television stations showed empty streets in the central business district, with many security forces on patrol.

There have also been protests in towns around the country.

In Mombasa, Kenya’s second-biggest city, large crowds turned out chanting “Ruto must go”, with businesses having to close because of some looting and stone throwing.

President Ruto’s hometown of Eldoret, which on Tuesday experienced violent clashes, is calm.

But there were some clashes in Migori in western Kenya, where police lobbed tear gas as they engaged with demonstrators.

Crowds of demonstrators confronted security officers in Kisumu, also in the west.

Ahead of Thursday’s protests, Auma Obama, the half-sister of former US President Barack Obama, told the BBC that young people were going to the streets again because “they still want their voices heard”.

Ms Obama, who was tear-gassed as she joined Tuesday’s protests, told the BBC Newsday programme that the youth were still aggrieved.

Mr Ruto had promised to enter into dialogue with them, but this has not yet happened, she said.

“The grievances are not over. It is way beyond the finance bill now, so a conversation has to happen. There has to be a dialogue. I hope that will happen. We do not want more bloodshed,” Ms Obama added.

Mr Ruto won the presidency in 2022 after campaigning to champion the interests of the “hustler” – the ordinary citizen struggling to earn a living.

But since then he has introduced a slew of taxes and raised others, making him unpopular as people complained that they could not afford to pay more when they were already struggling because of the cost-of-living crisis.

The finance bill outlined plans to introduce new taxes this year, including on bread and cooking oil, triggering the mass protests.

The government bowed to pressure and dropped some of the taxes but it did little to assuage the concerns of people, who demanded that the bill be withdrawn entirely.

On Wednesday, the president gave in to their demand, saying that “the people have spoken”.

But he defended the finance bill, saying his government had made the tough choices necessary to stabilise the economy and to help ease Kenya out of a debt trap which forces it to spend 61 cents of every tax dollar on repaying its loans.

Mr Ruto now intends to balance the books by introducing a new programme of public austerity, including a cut to spending in his own office.