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Youth activists lead fresh protests in Kenya

DAYS after the anti-tax hike protests that led to deadly clashes in Kenya, some youths activists have called for a fresh protest which took many Kenyans to the streets under a heavy police watch.
The protesters on Tuesday, July 2, started another protest demanding that President William Ruto step down despite declining to sign into law the controversial Finance Bill.
According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), the last protest led to the death of about 39 people, leaving 361 persons injured.
The commission condemned the use of force against demonstrators.
The Central Business District of Nairobi, one of the venues of the earlier protests, was empty on Tuesday morning as the police were on the streets, with only a few people sighted.

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Addressing newsmen on the issue, a local politician, John Kwenya, said although there had been lootings since last Thursday, there was “no alarm” despite the businesses shutting.

“They are scared. I told people to open their businesses, but most are afraid, they even moved their goods from the shops. This is economic sabotage, the last protest wasn’t Gen-Zs, they were goons,” he said.

However, NTV, a Kenyan local TV showed larger crowd demonstrating in Mombasa, the opposition’s coastal stronghold, and smaller gatherings with a noticeable police presence were seen in Kisumu, Nakuru, and Nyeri.




     

     

    Along with the dead and injured from the earlier protests, the state-funded KNCHR reported that there had also been 627 arrests of protestors and 32 occurrences of “enforced or involuntary disappearances.”

    “The unjustified use of force and violence against protestors, medical professionals, attorneys, journalists, and safe areas like churches, medical emergency rooms and ambulances is still condemned by the commission in the strongest terms possible,” the KNCHR stated.

    The ICIR reports that on Thursday, June 27, some protesters returned to the streets demanding that the President and other leaders step down from their positions despite the President bowing to pressure and declining to sign the controversial Finance Bill. The protesters claimed they no longer believed in the administration, and it must quit.

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    The protests in Kenya began about two weeks ago following the controversial Finance Bill which the citizens believed would hike taxes and worsen the already harsh economic realities.

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