Activity picked up somewhat in Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Thursday, where schools and some shops reopened despite opposition calls for a second straight day of protests against high prices and government policy.
The Azimio coalition called for three days of anti-government mobilization from Wednesday to Friday, as part of a protest movement launched in March sometimes marked by vandalism, looting and violence that left at least twenty dead.
Economic locomotive of East Africa, Kenya slowed down Wednesday for the first of these days of action, for fear of new overflows.
Clashes took place between groups of demonstrators and police at various points in the country, and two people were killed in Kisumu (west) according to a hospital official.
Thursday morning, activity has resumed somewhat in the Nairobi business center, which has not however regained its usual frenzy, noted AFP journalists.
“Life is going back to normal, I see that some stores are open. It has to stop because it’s very bad for the economy,” said Godfrey Mononyi, a 45-year-old urban planner, who returned to work after staying at home the day before.
“Today, it’s almost normal, not yet normal, but we’re getting close to it,” said Charles Muru, 51, who has reopened his kiosk selling books and newspapers. But “the demonstrations must stop” because they paralyze the country and “hurt”, he believes.
Public schools, closed on Wednesday in the country’s three main cities (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu) by government order, have reopened.
On Wednesday, clashes took place in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, the towns of Nakuru and Mombasa, as well as in the pro-Odinga strongholds of Kisumu, Homa Bay, Kisii and Migori, in the west of the country.
Two people were shot dead in Kisumu, according to the director of a hospital in the town.
More than 300 people were also arrested across the country, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said.
Elected in August 2022 by promising to support the most disadvantaged, President William Ruto faces growing opposition, especially since the promulgation in early July of a law introducing new taxes which add to the daily difficulties of Kenyans.
The government has been criticized for the brutal police crackdown, including the firing of live ammunition.
Thirteen Western countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, expressed in a joint statement on Tuesday their concern at the “high levels of violence” during the latest demonstrations, urging the various parties to “peacefully resolve their differences”.
20/07/2023 10:36:18 – Nairobi (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
