At least 39 people have been killed in protests that began last month against planned tax increases.
Hundreds of Kenyans attended a concert in the capital Nairobi, chanting slogans and dancing to commemorate the dozens of people killed in recent anti-government protests.
At least 39 people were killed during protests that began on June 18, as demonstrators demanded the cancellation of planned tax hikes and the resignation of President William Ruto.
“The government is listening now because of the protests. So we are quite happy, but we also feel a lot of sadness because so many people died for the government to listen to us,” said activist Boniface Mwangi, who attended the concert.
“So we also mourn and say to the families of those who have lost their loved ones: ‘We are with you and we will honour their sacrifice.'”
Thousands of youths gathered at Uhuru Park for memorial concert for victims killed by police during anti-government protests pic.twitter.com/Ra7w234Saf
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) July 7, 2024
At the concert by local artists in Uhuru Park, a large green space in central Nairobi, youths held up placards reading “RIP comrades” and “We promise to keep fighting,” while the crowd chanted “Ruto must go.” Others planted crosses in the ground.
Sunday’s concert took place on Saba Saba Day, which commemorates the day in 1990 when similar protests began – protests that eventually forced the government of former leader Daniel arap Moi to return the country to multiparty politics.
A change for an economic transformation?
In recent weeks of protests in Kenya, police have also fired tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators. Kenyan police said they have arrested more than 270 people who they said were posing as protesters and were suspected of committing criminal acts during anti-government rallies in the country.
Under increasing pressure from protesters, President Ruto has abandoned a finance bill that would have introduced a raft of new taxes that Kenyans say would have increased the already high cost of living.
On Friday, he also proposed new austerity measures, including cutting the number of his advisers and breaking up 47 Crown corporations to help plug a budget deficit caused by the withdrawal of tax increases, which were set to raise $2.7 billion.
“I believe these changes will put our country on a trajectory of economic transformation,” Ruto said.
