Several killed as Kenyan police crack down on tax bill protesters: All you need to know

Here’s all you need to know:

📌Police opened fire on demonstrators attempting to storm Kenya’s legislature, resulting in at least five protesters getting killed and parts of the parliament building set ablaze.

📌Protesters overwhelmed police and attempted to storm the parliament compound, causing chaotic scenes with flames visible from inside the building.

📌Demonstrators demanded the shutdown of parliament and the resignation of all MPs, calling for the formation of a new government.

📌Clashes and protests also erupted in several other cities and towns across Kenya.

📌In a televised address from State House, Kenyan President William Ruto has termed today’s protests as “treasonous events” adding that the demonstrations had been “hijacked” and he was putting “on notice the planners, financiers, orchestrators, abetters of violence and anarchy”.

📌Ruto also told that the military had been deployed across the country “in response to the security emergency caused by the ongoing violent protests”.

📌Parliament approved a finance bill, which is now moving to a third reading by lawmakers before being sent to the president for signing.

📌The finance bill aims to raise an additional $2.7 billion in taxes to alleviate the country’s heavy debt load, with interest payments consuming 37% of annual revenue.

📌Protesters are opposing tax increases amid a cost-of-living crisis and are also calling for President William Ruto to step down.

📌President Ruto, who won the election nearly two years ago, is facing conflicting demands from international lenders and a struggling population.

📌The government has promised to scrap proposed new taxes on bread, cooking oil, car ownership, and financial transactions, but this has not appeased the protesters.

📌Kenyans are dealing with multiple economic shocks, including the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, two years of droughts, and currency depreciation.