The death toll from protests in Kenya has risen to 13, an official from the main doctors’ association told AFP Wednesday, after anti-tax hike rallies turned violent and police opened fire at demonstrators who ransacked parliament.
The shocking scenes that left parts of parliament burning and injured numerous people on Tuesday caused President William Ruto’s government to call in the military.
Thousands of protesters marched against the tax rises last week in Nairobi, the nation’s capital, and other locations around the nation as part of the largely peaceful start to the youth-led demonstrations.
However, emotions erupted dramatically on Tuesday afternoon when protesters stormed the parliament building and police opened fire.
Aden Bare Duale, the minister of defence, declared hours later that the army had been sent in to assist the police in handling “the security emergency” in the nation.
“So far, we have at least 13 people killed, but this is not the final number,” Simon Kigondu, president of the Kenya Medical Association, said, adding that he had never seen “such a level of violence against unarmed people.”
“Deaths, mayhem,” read the front-page headline on the Standard newspaper, while the Daily Nation described the situation as “Pandemonium,” saying: “The foundations of the country have been shaken to the core.”
Medical professionals were treating “160 people… some of them with soft tissue injuries, some of them with bullet wounds,” according to a Nairobi official at Kenyatta National Hospital on Wednesday.
Ruto compared some of the protesters to “criminals” and warned that his government would take a harsh stance against “violence and anarchy” in a late-night press conference.
“It is not in order or even conceivable that criminals pretending to be peaceful protesters can reign terror against the people, their elected representatives, and the institutions established under our constitution and expect to go scot-free,” he said.
The level of opposition to the Kenya government’s proposed taxes, which was mostly spearheaded by young Kenyans belonging to Generation Z, caught them off guard and resulted in scenes at parliament that were shown live on television.
Pictures of the building that were posted on local TV stations following the rioters’ breach of the barricades indicated it had been looted, with windows smashed and furnishings burned.
Protest organisers advised people to “stay safe” and go home in unison as police opened fire on the enraged throng, scattering multiple bodies on the ground.
Protest organisers advised people to “stay safe” and go home in unison as police opened fire on the enraged throng, scattering multiple bodies on the ground.
