AP, NAIROBI
Police in Kenya said they detained hundreds of people and fired tear gas on Thursday as families of those killed in anti-government protests two years ago marched to the Kenyan Parliament building to demand compensation and justice.At least 60 people were killed when police opened fire outside the parliament in Nairobi in the June 2024 protests that were triggered by tax increases. The victims’ families said they were protesting against a lack of transparency in compensating the victims, after the government promised reparations.
Kenyan police on Thursday arrest protesters outside the Kenyan Parliament building during demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the deadly June 2024 youth-led anti-Finance Bill protests.
Kenyan President William Ruto said the protest would be allowed, but that the government would also protect schoolchildren and workers, and warned against any attempts to “shut down the country.”Police erected roadblocks on all major highways around Nairobi, blocking motorists from accessing the city. The parliament building was barricaded and businesses were closed.
Kenyan Ministry of Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said 355 “criminals” were arrested in Nairobi and other towns, adding that the measures were necessary to “protect businesses and avert chaos.”Journalists and witnesses said many ordinary Kenyans appeared to be among those detained.Police also fired tear gas at protesters outside Nairobi’s main police station who attempted to present a petition.Opposition leaders backed the protests, calling for transparency in the US$15 million government’s compensation program.During protests on June, 25, 2024, thousands of young Kenyans stormed the parliament building, urging legislators to vote against a finance bill that had proposed an increase in taxes despite the rising cost of living. Police opened fire outside the building, killing dozens.Ruto said the government compensation represents “a state acknowledgment that harm occurred,” but was not an admission of guilt. The compensation should not be seen as a “reward for violence or criminality,” he added.Several opposition figures — including former vice president Kalonzo Musyoka, former minister of justice Martha Karua and former chief justice David Maraga — marched alongside activists and the families of the 2024 crackdown victims, laying wreaths at the barbed-wire barricades around parliament.Edith Wanjiku, whose 19-year-old son Ibrahim Kamau died of gunshots to the neck, said her family has yet to receive compensation although they had submitted documents to the state-funded Kenya Human Rights Commission.“Only two out of 10 families whose children were shot that day near Parliament have been compensated and we are wondering what criteria the government is using,” she said.Gillian Munyao, whose son, Rex Masai, was killed, said compensation cannot replace justice.“Arrest the killer cops, that’s my message to the government,” she said.Three police officers have been charged in the deaths of protesters.
