Six people were killed on Wednesday in several Kenyan towns during anti-Government demonstrations banned by the authorities against new taxes, two police sources revealed.
“We have three dead in Mlolongo” near the capital Nairobi, “where a group of demonstrators had blocked the road to protest and we also have two others in Kitengela and one in Emali”, respectively 30 km and 120 km south of the capital, said a police source, who requested anonymity. The death toll in these three towns was confirmed by another police source.
After the violence, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki issued a warning that the authorities would no longer tolerate it.
“Lives have been lost, scores of law enforcement officers and civilians have been grievously injured and unimaginable loss to the country’s economy has been occasioned”, he said in a statement condemning “widespread violence, looting and destruction of private and public property”.
In Nairobi’s Kangemi slum, dozens of children were hospitalized, some unconscious, after teargas was fired near their classrooms, the head of the clinic said. “We took 53 of them to the hospital and they are all now in a stable condition awaiting discharge”, he specified.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, pursuing a protest campaign against the government, had urged demonstrations against a tax law that has seen fuel prices surge, adding to the difficulties faced by poor Kenyans.