Young people in Kenya protest police brutality and bad governance as demonstrations spread

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Thousands of protesters against police brutality and government corruption clashed with police in Nairobi, who hurled tear gas canisters and wielded batons, leaving several people injured, as demonstrations spread around the country.

The protests were timed to mark the one-year anniversary of anti-tax demonstrations in which 60 people were killed and 20 others remain missing.

Parliament and the president’s office in the Kenya’s capital were barricaded with razor wire, with all access roads blockaded by police.

The protests, which have now spread to major cities including Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Nyahururu, have morphed into calls for the president to resign due to what protesters are saying is poor governance.

During last year’s protests, demonstrators stormed Parliament where a legislation to increase taxes was passed, 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 deployed.

Kenyan youth remain unhappy with the current administration due to corruption, rising cost of living and police brutality, and the recent death of a blogger in custody. The close-range shooting of a civilian during recent protests has exacerbated public anger.

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 tear gas cannisters at some of the crowds.

An Associated Press journalist witnessed a demonstrator being injured in the mouth by a round fired by police towards a crowd. Another protester was clobbered on the head by antiriot police and was taken by medics in an ambulance.

Wangechi Kahuria, the executive director for the Independent Medico-Legal Unit, an NGO that tracked the killings during protests, said that Kenyans should be “allowed to mourn and go back home.”

Police Inspector General Douglas Kanja on Tuesday said no unauthorized persons would be allowed inside protected zones such as Parliament and the statehouse.

Local media on Wednesday published the names and photos of some of those who died during last year’s protests. The headline in a major newspaper, The Standard, read “A luta Continua,” which means “The struggle continues” in Portuguese and was the slogan of rebels during Mozambique’s struggle for independence from colonial rule.

Political analyst Herman Manyora called the protesters “heroes” who paid the ultimate price and should be remembered.

“The authorities should work with the demonstrators to ensure a good commemoration,” he said.

Manyora, however, warned that the protesters remain unhappy with the authorities because the “government has been intransigent and has hardened the resolve of the young people to keep fighting.”

During last year’s protests, President Ruto dissolved the Cabinet that had been accused of incompetence and corruption but maintained most of his previous ministers in his new Cabinet despite concerns.

A finance bill proposing high taxes that had been passed by Parliament was withdrawn, but later in the year, more taxes were introduced through legislative amendments.

President Ruto appointed opposition party members to the Cabinet last year and in March he signed a political pact with his election rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga.