Kenyan police fired tear gas in Nairobi on Thursday as small groups of protesters gathered for another day of demonstrations against President William Ruto’s administration. The central business district was heavily patrolled by riot police, with roadblocks set up on major roads and many shops closed. Despite the heightened security, only a few dozen protesters showed up, chanting “we are peaceful.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kenya, traditionally known as one of the most stable countries in the region, has been experiencing weeks of protests, often led by young Gen-Z Kenyans, against Ruto\u2019s government, which has been in power for two years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While President Ruto was attending the swearing-in of his revamped cabinet just a few kilometers away, police clashed with demonstrators, using tear gas to disperse them and arresting several individuals. Despite these confrontations, the city remained largely calm, with some residents continuing their daily activities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Reports indicated that other parts of the country, such as Mombasa and Kisumu, were also peaceful, with no significant disruptions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A protester, 29-year-old fashion stylist Stephens Wanjiku, stated that she had been participating in the protests since they began in mid-June to demand better governance and accountability from the government.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s acting police chief, Gilbert Masengeli, had warned on Wednesday that criminals intended to infiltrate the protests and advised people to avoid protected areas like the main international airport and Ruto\u2019s official residence, as well as to take precautions in crowded places.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Initially sparked by opposition to proposed tax hikes, the protests have evolved into broader demonstrations against government spending and corruption. According to rights groups, over 60 people have been killed since the protests began, with the police accused of using excessive force, including firing live ammunition. Dozens of protesters have also gone missing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenyan police fired tear gas in Nairobi on Thursday as small groups of protesters gathered for another day of demonstrations against President William Ruto’s administration. The central business district was heavily patrolled by riot police, with roadblocks set up on major roads and many shops closed. Despite the heightened security, only a few dozen protesters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":42586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42587,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42580\/revisions\/42587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}