Law and Disorder

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Police clashed with anti-government protesters on Tuesday in the capital Nairobi and other Kenyan cities, killing at least one person and forcing businesses to close, as activists demanded that President William Ruto step down, Reuters reported.

Demonstrators lit bonfires on major highways and set tires and garbage on fire in many other parts of the country.

In Kitengela, a Nairobi suburb, reporters witnessed police firing at protesters, some of whom threw rocks.

Youth-led protests initially broke out in June over a bill aiming to raise taxes on certain essential products, protests that forced Ruto to back down and scrap the bill, and fire all but one cabinet member last week. But protests continued, with demonstrators saying he’s shown poor governance.

At the same time, the initial protests were peaceful, but critics say they turned violent after police responded with violence. Amid accusations of police violence, the head of the force resigned on Friday, Kenya’s Daily Nation wrote.

The Kenyan National Commission for Human Rights said 50 people have died so far in the protests and 59 have been abducted in connection with the crackdown.

Ruto and his government promised a probe into the deaths, but justified the use of violence when “protests escalate to criminality.”