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Kenya shocked as protests against finance law turn deadly in Nairobi | Politics News

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Kenya is in shock after unprecedented scenes left parts of Parliament ablaze as protests against a finance bill recommending tax hikes turned deadly, prompting President William Ruto’s government to deploy the military.

The protests, led mainly by young people, began largely peacefully last week, with thousands of demonstrators marching in the capital, Nairobi, and across the country against tax increases.

Lawmakers voted to approve the controversial finance bill amid growing unrest over the country’s cost-of-living crisis.

Tensions rose on Tuesday when police officers fired on crowds who later stormed the parliament building in Nairobi, with rights groups including the Kenya Medical Association saying five people were killed in the violence and more than 30 injured.

Hours later, Defense Minister Aden Bare Duale announced that the government had deployed the army to support the police in tackling the “security emergency” in the country.

At a late-night press conference, Ruto warned that his government would take a hard line against “violence and anarchy”, comparing some of the protesters to “criminals”.

The government was caught off guard by the intensity of opposition to its tax proposals, culminating in shocking scenes in Parliament broadcast live on TV.

Broadcast footage showed crowds breaking through barricades, ransacking the parliament building, with furniture burned and windows smashed.

As police fired into the angry crowd, leaving several bodies scattered on the ground, protest organizers urged people to return home together and “stay safe.”

Other protests in several Kenyan cities were largely peaceful earlier in the day.

Internet services were down, with global web monitor NetBlocks reporting that Kenya suffered a “major outage” before access returned overnight.

Nairobi was bracing for more protests on Wednesday.

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