Scattered anti-government protests in Kenya defy police bans

NAIROBI: Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across Kenya on Tuesday in defiance of a police ban, the latest in a series of anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the East African nation.

In the capital Nairobi, shops and offices were shut as some protesters mobilised to march to the main Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), one of the busiest in Africa. Police had warned against the march, saying trespassing on protected areas, including airports, would risk prosecution.

Activists led by young Gen-Z Kenyans launched peaceful rallies last month over steep tax increases that spiralled into deadly violence, before morphing into wider anger against President William Ruto’s government.While Ruto has taken a series of measures to try to end the worst crisis of his near two-year presidency, including dropping the tax hikes, activists have vowed to pursue their protest action.

On Tuesday, heavily-armed police were deployed on the roads leading to the airport, while aviation authorities told passengers to arrive hours before their flights to navigate the increased security checks.”There is no doubt that the current demonstrations have become a haven for goons, motivated and opportunistic offenders to loot and destroy property,” acting national police chief Douglas Kanja told reporters.

Protesters had sought to occupy the airport in response to reports that the government was planning to enter a deal to lease JKIA to an Indian firm, a move the government has denied.At least five protesters had been arrested elsewhere on a road some 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the airport, a police source told AFP.

Elsewhere in the country, television broadcast images of people lighting bonfires in the western town of Migori and central Karatina. Tuesday’s demonstrations came as the lower house of parliament resumed with a debate on the finance bill containing the tax increases that was scrapped by Ruto last month. At least 50 people have been killed and more than 400 wounded since the start of the protests on June 18, according to the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.