Kenyan police hurl tear gas at protesters as cabinet ministers sworn in
- Protests in Kenya started in June with calls for legislators to vote against a controversial finance bill that was proposing higher taxes
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 organised 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.
