Africa
One killed, six injured in Kenya protests
According to police, a university student was killed and six police officers were injured in protests against President William Ruto’s government over high living costs on Monday.
Protesters took to the streets of Nairobi and other cities in response to opposition leader Raila Odinga’s call for demonstrations.
Some people set fires in the streets and threw rocks at police officers. Police used tear gas and water cannons on Odinga’s convoy while he spoke to supporters from the sunroof of his car.
The person killed, a student at Maseno University in western Kenya, was shot in the neck by the police when officers fired live rounds after running out of tear gas canisters and blank rounds, according to a police report seen by Reuters on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Kenya’s National Police Service was not immediately available for comment.
The report said the officers were confronting students who had set fires in the road and vandalized local businesses.
Odinga, 78, cited the high cost of staples such as maize flour, which have kept inflation high, in calling for protests. He also accuses Ruto of cheating in last year’s presidential election, in which Odinga finished runner-up.
Odinga challenged the result last year before the Supreme Court, which upheld Ruto’s victory.
At least four members of parliament were arrested during the protests. They were released on bail and will appear in court on Thursday to answer charges of unlawful assembly, their lawyer, Dunstan Omari, told Reuters.
Odinga called on Monday for the protests to be repeated weekly.
