Members of the protest movement have rejected appeals from President William Ruto for dialogue
\n NAIROBI
\nRiot police patrolled Kenya\u2019s capital Nairobi on Tuesday morning as young activists called for more protests following last week\u2019s deadly clashes.
\nMembers of the protest movement, which has no official leaders and largely organizes via social media, have rejected appeals from President William Ruto for dialogue, even after he abandoned proposed tax hikes.
\nInfuriated by the deaths last week \u2014 at least 39 according to the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR) \u2014 many are now demanding that Ruto step down.
\n\u201cWe are determined to push for the president\u2019s resignation,\u201d Ojango Omondi, an activist in Nairobi, said. \u201cWe hope for a peaceful protest and minimal casualties, if any.\u201d
\nThe protests that started as an online outpouring of anger over nearly $2.7 billion of tax hikes in a proposed finance bill have grown into a nationwide movement against corruption and misgovernance, and become the most serious crisis of Ruto\u2019s nearly two-year-old presidency.
\nHe has been caught between the competing demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which are urging the heavily-indebted government to cut deficits, and a hard-pressed population reeling from the soaring cost of living.
\nRuto has directed the treasury to come up with ways to cut spending to fill the budget gap caused by the bill\u2019s withdrawal, and also said more borrowing will be required.
\nThe protests, which began in mid-June, were mostly peaceful until last Tuesday, when police clashed with demonstrators. Some protesters briefly stormed parliament and set part of it ablaze. The police opened fire, killing many, human rights group said.
\nThe KNHCR said on Monday that 39 people have been killed and 361 people injured since the first protest on June 18.
\nRuto has defended the police\u2019s actions, saying they were doing their best under difficult circumstances. He blamed violence on \u201ccriminals\u201d who he said had hijacked the demonstrations.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful day to choose patriotism. A beautiful day to choose peace, order and the sanctity of our nationhood,\u201d State House communications director Gerald Bitok wrote on X on Tuesday morning, adding in Swahili: \u201cViolence is not patriotism.\u201d
\nIt was not clear to what extent people would respond to the new calls for protests. There were no reports of demonstrations early in the morning.
\nShops were opening as usual in downtown Nairobi, the site of the most intense protests last week. Police had erected roadblocks leading to the president\u2019s official residence.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s not going to be maandamano (protest) because maybe people are afraid, because some people have been shot,\u201d said Kennedy Otwal, who was walking through downtown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Members of the protest movement have rejected appeals from President William Ruto for dialogue NAIROBI Riot police patrolled Kenya\u2019s capital Nairobi on Tuesday morning as young activists called for more protests following last week\u2019s deadly clashes. Members of the protest movement, which has no official leaders and largely organizes via social media, have rejected appeals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-416080","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n