NAIROBI: A climbdown by Kenya’s president over plans to raise taxes brought no end to nationwide protests on Thursday, with at least two people reported killed in clashes near the capital Nairobi and others shot by police elsewhere.

A day after President William Ruto abandoned a tax hike bill, demonstrators in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and other cities called for him to step down, although crowds were smaller than earlier in the week.

Police fired teargas at dozens of protesters in Nairobi and blocked off roads to the presidential palace. In the town of Homa Bay in western Kenya, police said officers had shot at protesters when they tried to torch police vehicles.

“I can confirm seven people have been admitted in hospital with gunshot wounds. Police opened fire when protesters attempted to burn police vehicles,” said Hassan Barua, Migori police commander.

The Standard newspaper said two people had been killed as police clashed with anti-tax protesters looting two supermarkets in Ongata Rongai, a town on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Ruto withdrew the legislation including new taxes and hikes on Wednesday, a day after parliament was briefly stormed and set ablaze while trying to vote through his plans and at least 23 people were killed in clashes.

Ruto is grappling with the most serious crisis of his two-year-old presidency as the youth-led protest movement has grown rapidly from online condemnations of the tax hikes into mass rallies.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2024