On July 2nd, 2024, Kenya experienced intense anti-government protests in several cities, including Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu, following a controversial finance bill. These demonstrations transformed into calls for President William Ruto’s resignation due to police brutality concerns after 39 protesters allegedly died at the hands of the security forces since the protests’ inception two weeks prior. The controversies around the bill, involving tax increases on salaries, fuel, and gross sales, have worsened the ongoing cost-of-living crisis in Kenya.
Tear gas was employed by Kenyan authorities to disperse demonstrators in both Nairobi and Mombasa, leading many local businesses to close. This clash has resulted in significant urban chaos, including cars set alight and violent skirmishes between protesters and law enforcement in Mombasa, making it impossible for magistrates in the Nairobi city centre court to carry out their usual work.
Businesses’ owners have resorted to recruiting vigilantes as security forces to protect against potential looting, with patrons armed with clubs in some situations. One 21-year-old guard named Astin Kibowen, who is stationed near a music shop in Nairobi’s central business district, conveyed his desire for President Ruto to give attention to their demands.
Prior to dropping the disputed tax increases, 39 protesters had died – 17 in Nairobi and 22 elsewhere around the country – according to a state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR). Another 361 injuries, 32 involuntary disappearances, and 627 arrests had reportedly taken place, while non-governmental human rights group Amnesty International reported the demise of 24 protesters.
An artist, Linda Indakwa, 29, declared her intentions to depict these demonstrations in her works from the scene in downtown Nairobi. The KNCHR rebuked the excessive use of violence and force by the police and cited this as being “disproportionate.” President Ruto, however, asserted that his country’s security forces had conducted to their best ability while speaking in an interview on Sunday, offering guarantees that any excesses, if proven, would be resolved.
Reports suggest more information and images will become accessible from additional sources, such as the BBC’s Gladys Kigo and Mercy Juma who are in Nairobi covering these events.
