Kenya tax protests updates: 13 killed as demonstrations rock country

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For all you need to know about the deadly protests in Kenya – and the finance bill at the heart of public anger – read our explainer here.

And check out our video report from Nairobi, here.

We are going to bring our live coverage to an end soon. Here’s a summary of today’s main events:

• The head of the Kenya Medical Association says at least 13 people were killed after Kenyan police fired at protesters rallying in opposition to a finance bill that would raise taxes.
• Kenya’s President William Ruto says he has ordered security forces to thwart any effort “to undermine the security and stability”, describing the protests as “treasonous”.
• Protesters have largely moved away from the Kenyan Parliament in central Nairobi, which was stormed earlier in the day, amid a heavy deployment of riot police.
• United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urges Kenyan security forces to “exercise restraint” and calls on protesters to demonstrate peacefully.

Human rights groups say that 21 people have been abducted or disappeared since Monday. Many are prominent social media activists and commentators. Here are some of the most prominent:

• Gabriel Oguda, an activist and columnist, posted in the early hours of the morning on social media that the police were at the gate of his house. His brother posted soon after, confirming that Oguda had been taken by “unknown gunmen”.
• Kevin Monari, also known as Osama Otero, is a social media influencer who has hosted spaces on the finance bill on the social media website X. He was also taken in the early hours of Tuesday.
• John Frank Ngemi, a blockchain developer, was taken on Monday afternoon, according to a statement released by Web3/Blockchain Communities of Kenya. The statement said that “four armed individuals abducted” Ngemi from the Beast Athletics offices in Kahawa Sukari. “This incident underscores the growing threats innovators and pioneers face in the tech industry,” it added.

In a statement, Moussa Faki Mahamat says he is following the events in Kenya with “deep concern”.

The chairperson of the African Union Commission also appealed for stakeholders “to engage in constructive dialogue to address the contentious issues that led to the protests in the supreme interest of Kenya”.

“The Chairperson reiterates the total solidarity of the African Union with the Government and People of Kenya and exhorts them to maintain peace, security and stability in the country,” his statement reads.

US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller has said the administration of US President Joe Biden “condemn[s] the violence reported during protests in Nairobi and around Kenya”.

“We mourn the loss of life and injuries sustained, and offer our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones,” Miller said during a briefing.

“We urge restraint to restore order and provide space for dialogue.”

The Kenyan president also has addressed the young people taking to the streets in anger over his finance bill.

“I thank you and I assure you that the conversation you have begun around pertinent issues of our nation will continue to inform our policy and governance decisions,” he said.

“As I promised on Sunday, this conversation will not be in vain.”

Ruto did not say whether he would withdraw support for the finance bill, however, as opposition parties and demonstrators have been demanding.

Ruto says the measures aim to “thwart any attempts by dangerous criminals to undermine the security and stability of our country”.

He did not elaborate on what exactly those measures were.

The Kenyan president also described the protests as “treasonous”.

“As the Kenyan people go to bed tonight, I give you my assurance that your security [and] that of your families and property remains my utmost priority,” he said.

“Most regrettably, today’s attack on Kenya’s constitutional order has resulted in the loss of lives,” the Kenyan president says.

Property was also destroyed and “institutions and emblems of our sovereignty” were also desecrated, Ruto said.

“Today’s events mark a critical turning point in how we respond to grave threats to our national security,” he continued.

“I assure the nation that the government has mobilised all resources at the nation’s disposal to ensure that a situation of this nature will not recur again – at whatever cost.”

A spokesman for Antonio Guterres has said the United Nations secretary-general is also “very much saddened” by reports of deaths and injuries in the protests.

“We’re also very concerned about reported cases of targeted, arbitrary detentions,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

“It is very important that the rights of people to demonstrate peacefully be upheld,” he said.

The authorities, Dujarric added, must “ensure that those rights are respected and that all incidents of deaths in the hands of security forces be fully investigated”.

“[Guterres] urges the police and the authorities, the security forces, in Kenya to exercise restraint and for the demonstrators to act peacefully.”

Faith Odhiambo, president of the Law Society of Kenya, says today will “go down in history” as a dark day in Kenyan history.

“June 25, 2024 will go down in history as the day Kenyans died so that their president could please the colonial masters in the name of staggered tax measures recommended for implementation by the … International Monetary Fund,” she said in a statement shared on X.

Odhiambo called for international criminal investigation authorities to help Kenyan families in their “quest for justice”.

“We want answers under what law did the president use to deploy Kenya Defence forces on Kenyan soil,” she said.

The White House has called for calm, saying it was “closely monitoring” the situation in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

“We condemn violence in all its forms and urge calm,” a National Security Council spokesperson said.

US President Joe Biden’s administration last month designated Kenya as a “major non-NATO ally”, a status that highlights cooperation between the two countries and entails some economic and military benefits.

For more on what the status means, read our explainer here.

Aden Duale has shared a formal government notice on the deployment, which says the move comes “in response to the security emergency caused by the ongoing violent protests” in parts of the country.

The protests have resulted in “destruction and breaching of critical infrastructure”, the notice reads.

Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from the Kenyan capital, said that crowds have moved away from the Parliament of Kenya in the city centre as night falls. However, he said that gunfire could be heard elsewhere in Nairobi.

“The streets around Parliament had largely been cleared, but they were full of debris, there was a presence of riot police everywhere, and police carrying various weapons including the tear gas used to disperse protesters,” Webb said. “But a couple of blocks away from there, we could hear gunfire.”