(Nairobi) Kenyan police on Monday fired tear gas in Nairobi at a convoy of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has called on his supporters for weekly demonstrations against inflation and the government, amid clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
This is the first major unrest since William Ruto came to power.
Raila Odinga, 78, who continues to claim that the tightly contested August 9, 2022 presidential election was “stolen” from him and that the government of William Ruto is “illegitimate”, said that “every Monday there will be a strike, there will be a demonstration. The war has begun, it will not end until Kenyans get their rights.”
Earlier, the police had fired tear gas and used water cannons against Mr. Odinga’s convoy.
Demonstrations against inflation in the capital had been banned the day before by the authorities for not respecting the filing deadline.
Clashes also broke out between stone-throwing protesters and law enforcement using tear gas and water cannons in some parts of the capital and in at least one other city, AFP correspondents have noted.
Protest organizers had planned to march to State House, the presidential palace, in central Nairobi, where around 20 protesters were arrested. Among those arrested are two parliamentarians, Stewart Madzayo, Senate Minority Leader, and MP Opiyo Wandayi, both members of Mr. Odinga’s party.
“We came here peacefully, but they threw tear gas at us,” protester Charles Oduor said. “They lie to us every day. Where’s the cheap cornmeal they promised? Where are the youth jobs they promised? All they do is hire their friends,” the 21-year-old added.
In Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum, protesters set fire to tires and police used water cannons, according to AFP reporters.
Clashes also erupted in Kisumu, western Kenya, another Raila Odinga stronghold.
“Our victory has been stolen from us and we are determined to get it back. We cannot sit idly by as life gets harder and harder. We want Raila at State House,” said Kisumu protester Kevin Ojwang.
Demonstrations against inflation, which rose to 9.2% year on year in February in the East African country, were banned by the authorities on Sunday.
Kenyans are also suffering from the sharp fall in the shilling against the US dollar and a record drought that has plunged millions into starvation.
“We want to ask the organizers to reflect, to put an end to the chaos so that those who have not opened their businesses and stores do so this afternoon,” Vice President Rigathi Gachagua said, saying the protests had already lost 2 billion shillings (about 21 million Canadian dollars).
Despite the ban, demonstrators gathered to protest the cost of living.
“Life is so hard. Look at these young men and women, we have no jobs, people are losing their jobs. That’s why we come to talk about our rights,” says Henry Juma, 26, a shoe shiner.
Leading Kenyan newspaper The Standard summed up the tension with Monday’s headline: “The day of the showdown.”
Many businesses in Nairobi were closed before the protests and some companies had asked their employees to favor telework.
The head of state had risen this weekend against calls to demonstrate from his opponent. “You are not going to threaten us with ultimatums, chaos and impunity. We will not allow it,” said William Ruto, asking Raila Odinga to act through “legal and constitutional” means.
According to the official results, Mr. Odinga lost to Mr. Ruto by some 233,000 votes, one of the narrowest margins in the country’s history, and while he was supported in this poll by the incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta.
The appeal brought by Raila Odinga, who was running for the fifth time at the head of the country and complained of fraud, was rejected by the Supreme Court.
