NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police hurled tear gas at protesters calling for the president’s resignation in the Kenyan capital on Thursday as a new Cabinet was sworn in.
The protests in Nairobi were organized by activists upset with President William Ruto even after he dismissed almost all of his ministers and added opposition members to what he called a “broad-based” government.
Businesses in the city were closed and public transport vehicles remained out of the central business district where they normally operate.
Police also mounted roadblocks on roads leading to the city. The president’s office, where the new ministers were sworn in on Thursday morning, also remained cordoned off.
Major towns and cities including the lakeside city of Kisumu — an opposition stronghold that has previously witnessed protests — remained calm with some residents telling journalists they were not protesting because the opposition figures had been incorporated into the new Cabinet.
Civil society groups, along with the Law Society of Kenya, called in a joint statement for the upholding of human rights during demonstrations and urged police to refrain from deploying nonuniformed police and using unmarked vehicles.
“We reiterate constitutional protection of all persons to peaceably and unarmed to protest, picket and to present petitions to the authorities,” the statement said.
Ruto earlier on Wednesday condemned the protests and urged Kenyans to stay away from them, saying those who want change can vote him out in 2027 elections.
Also Wednesday, activists planned an “8/8 Liberation March” and warned that demonstrators would treat nonuniformed police officers as criminals.
“We shall march for our rights, and tomorrow we shall liberate this country,” activist Kasmuel Mcoure said.
Protests in Kenya started on June 18 with initial calls for legislators to vote against a controversial finance bill that was proposing increased taxes amidst the high cost of living.
On June 25, protesters stormed parliament after legislators voted to pass the bill. More than 50 people have died since the protests started, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
The president declined to sign the bill and sent it back to parliament saying he had “heard Kenyans who wanted nothing to do with the bill” but warned there would be revenue and expenditure consequences.
Protests continued with calls for the president to resign over bad governance, corruption, incompetence in his Cabinet and lack of accountability. Ruto dismissed all but one Cabinet minister but protests continued.
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