Protests in Kenya: Tear gas used to demand justice for those killed by police

Kenyan police have used tear gas in the capital Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa to disperse anti-government protests.

Many shops remained closed in the city centres of both cities. Protesters also took to the streets in other cities, including Kisumu.

According to human rights groups, 39 people have been killed by security forces since protests against a controversial financial law began two weeks ago.

President William Ruto has now dropped the planned tax increases – but the demonstrations have turned into calls for his resignation and anger over police brutality.

In Mombasa, burning cars can be seen while chaotic scenes of clashes break out between protesters and police.

The clashes in Nairobi forced judges to postpone hearings at a court in the city, the Daily Nation newspaper reported.

Some shopkeepers in the central business districts of Nairobi and Mombasa have hired vigilantes to patrol with batons to prevent looting.

Astin Kibowen, 21, who guards the music shop where he works in Nairobi, told the BBC he wanted the president to “listen to our cries, to our voices.”

Since President Ruto came to power two years ago with a promise to revive the economy, Kenyans have been hit by a cost of living crisis, accompanied by higher taxes on salaries, fuel and gross sales.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR) says most of the protesters were killed last Tuesday when MPs voted to pass the law.

Seventeen people died in Nairobi and 22 more were killed in other parts of the country, a statement said on Monday evening.

In addition, there were 361 injuries, 32 cases of “forced or involuntary disappearances” and 627 arrests, it said.

According to Amnesty International, 24 demonstrators were killed in the protests. Police had previously given the death toll as 19.

An artist has told the BBC that she wants to document the demonstrations in Nairobi live.

“We mourn the children killed by the police. While others chant, I make art. I saw a flag being placed on that man when he was shot last week,” said 29-year-old Linda Indakwa, pointing to a piece of art she has put up on a street in the city center.

The KNCHR condemned “in the strongest possible terms the unjustified violence and coercion used against protesters, medical personnel, lawyers, journalists and in safe places such as churches, emergency medical centers and ambulances.”

It was said that the violence used against the protesters was “excessive and disproportionate”.

President Ruto said in a roundtable discussion with journalists on Sunday that the police had “done their best”.

He added that any excesses would be addressed through the “existing mechanisms”.

Additional reporting by BBC’s Gladys Kigo and Mercy Juma in Nairobi.