Kenya state-backed rights body says 22 killed in Tuesday protests

June 26, 2024 11

Protesters try to advance towards the police during a demonstration in Nairobi, on June 25, 2024. Kenyan police fired tear gas at crowds of young protesters in the capital Nairobi on Tuesday, as demonstrators rallied across the country against the government’s proposed tax increases. The demonstrations, led mainly by Generation Z, which began last week, took President William Ruto’s government by surprise, and he said over the weekend that he was ready to talk to the protesters, according to AFP reporters. (Photo by SIMON MAINA / AFP) (Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images)

Twenty-two people were killed in Tuesday’s protests in Kenya, a state-funded rights organisation said, vowing an investigation into what it described as “the largest number of deaths (in) a single day protest.”

“We have recorded 22 deaths… we are going to launch an inquiry,” said Roseline Odede, chairwoman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, adding that 19 people had died in the capital Nairobi, where police opened fire at demonstrators who stormed parliament.

str-amu/rbu/kjm

AFP

(NAMPA / AFP)

Written by: Staff Writer

human rights Investigation Kenya Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Nairobi police violence Protests