Kenyan Protesters Demand Justice for Fallen and President's Resignation
Demonstrators in Kenya are mourning the more than 50 people who have died so far in six weeks of protests. They began against unpopular tax hikes and have grown into demands for the government to step down.
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00:00Young Kenyans carry flowers and crosses with the names of the dead, chanting for an end
00:09to the killing of protesters.
00:11Moments later, police respond by wrestling demonstrators to the ground while firing tear
00:16gas.
00:17The lines are drawn, we are clear, there's the enemies of the people who've united and
00:24there's the people.
00:25And now it's a tug of war and the people have never lost.
00:29These are the scenes on the streets of Kenya as anti-government protests enter their sixth
00:34week.
00:36Protesters are calling for a total shutdown of the country as they press for President
00:40William Ruto to step down and demand justice for the more than 50 people who have been
00:45killed in the demonstrations so far.
00:48Protests started peacefully in mid-June against a finance bill intended to service the national
00:53debt.
00:54It would have raised the cost of many basic necessities, like a proposed 16% value-added
01:00tax on bread.
01:01This was too much for many people struggling to get by, and was also seen as a sign of
01:06officials enriching themselves at the public's expense.
01:10Women cannot afford to buy sanitary towels because the taxes were going way, way higher.
01:15And the members of parliament are paying themselves very huge salaries.
01:19So they were increasing the taxes but paying themselves.
01:22Death protests in Kenya have generally been organized by opposition forces.
01:26But in the current movement, Kenyan youth across ethnic lines mobilized organically
01:31online.
01:32The protests intensified when their pleas fell on deaf ears, and police switched from
01:37using water cannons to firing live rounds, killing at least 50 protesters and injuring
01:42more than 400.
01:44There have also been allegations of hired pro-government mobs aimed at disrupting demonstrations,
01:49giving a pretext for the government's use of force.
01:52The police will not be able to do anything about it.
01:56The police will not be able to do anything about it.
01:59The police will not be able to do anything about it.
02:01The protesters achieved a key breakthrough on June 25, when young people stormed the
02:06country's parliament as lawmakers were pushing through with a planned tax hike bill.
02:11That got the government to reverse course.
02:13President Ruto withdrew the bill and reshuffled the cabinet.
02:17I will not sign the 2024 finance bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn.
02:29But by that point, the concession was no longer enough.
02:32The movement had expanded to express longstanding frustration over stagnant wages and alleged
02:37corruption under the Ruto government.
02:40It began demanding more widespread change.
02:43Protesters are also enraged as authorities continue a ruthless crackdown against protest
02:48leaders, with dozens of people missing.
02:51Independent commissions say the police aren't cooperating with investigations into alleged
02:56brutality.
02:57The government also appears to be attempting to control the flow of information.
03:01Bodies were found in the quarry, mostly women and young children.
03:07After the occupied parliament protests, later that night, the internet was shut down.
03:15The media was shut down.
03:17For now, tensions in the capital Nairobi remain at an all-time high, as authorities' efforts
03:22to quash protests only serve to turn Kenya's young people against them.
03:27Protesters have declared themselves the new opposition, and vowed to not settle for anything
03:32less than their demands and justice for the fallen.
03:35Scott Hwang and Gino Lopez for Taiwan Plus.