Several dead in gunfire during tax protests outside Kenyan parliament

Earlier on Tuesday, Kenya’s parliament approved a contentious finance bill that aims to raise an additional $2.7 billion in taxes as part of an effort to lighten the heavy debt load, with interest payments alone consuming 37% of annual revenue.

The parliament approved the measures before adjourning as protesters swarmed outside the building.

As protesters clashed in the streets of the capital Nairobi and other cities, police used tear gas and water cannon and also fired over the heads of demonstrators to disperse crowds, while protesters hurled stones at security forces, witnesses said.

The protesters oppose tax rises in a country already reeling from a cost-of-living crisis but many are also calling for President William Ruto to step down.

Ruto won an election almost two years ago on a platform of championing Kenya’s working poor, but has been caught between the competing demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which is urging the government to cut deficits to access more funding, and a hard-pressed population.

Kenyans have been struggling to cope with several economic shocks caused by the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, two consecutive years of droughts and depreciation of the currency.