The demonstrations, against President William Ruto, have focused on economic stagnation and police brutality. Photo / Getty Images
The demonstrations, against President William Ruto, have focused on economic stagnation and police brutality. Photo / Getty Images
At least 38 people were killed at anti-Government protests commemorating a 1990 uprising against autocratic rule in Kenya, the country’s National Commission for Human Rights said today.
The updated toll makes Monday local time the deadliest day of demonstrations since the beginning of the youth-led protests against President William Ruto,which have shaken the East African country for more than a year.
The National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR), an independent yet state-funded rights body, had previously given a tally of 31 deaths.
Kenya has been grappling with waves of protests from people angry over economic stagnation, police brutality and corruption, with the marches at times degenerating into violence and looting.
Monday’s demonstrations brought clashes between protesters and police on the outskirts of Nairobi, though a hefty security deployment kept the marchers out of the capital’s centre.
After the chaos, Ruto ordered officers to shoot protesters in the leg if they engaged in looting and warned against attempts to “overthrow” his Government, in his toughest remarks yet on the unrest.
“The Commission observes that the death toll has now risen to 38 people,” a KNCHR statement said today, adding that at least 130 people were injured in Monday’s demonstrations.
At least 38 people were killed in protests commemorating a 1990 uprising in Kenya. Photo / Getty Images
With eight dead, the southern city of Kiambu was where the largest number of victims died, followed by the capital Nairobi and Kajiado to the south with six each, the commission said.
The demonstrations began in June 2024 as a youth-led anti-taxation protest, which subsequently forced the Government to withdraw a contested finance bill.
The protesters were repressed by the police with a heavy hand, with Monday’s deaths bringing the total toll to more than 100 killed.
Rights groups have pointed the finger at the police for the violence, as well as for the number of protesters who have disappeared after the demonstrations.
Meanwhile, marchers accuse the security forces of hiring armed criminals to chase protesters and paying vandals to discredit their movement.
Kenya’s long-running issue with police violence has tarnished the image of a country considered to be a beacon of stability and democracy in a troubled region.
