Kenya: police fire tear gas at protesters calling for president Ruto's resignation
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00:00Several journalists were injured by tear gas in Nairobi on Thursday as police
00:04cracked down on protests there. Crowds were smaller than in past weeks and they
00:09were met with tear gas canisters as they tried to march through the city centre.
00:13The Gen Z-led demonstrations are in their second month. In the latest move to
00:18quell growing dissatisfaction with his government, President William Ruto
00:22nominated key opposition figures to his cabinet who were sworn in on Thursday.
00:27But popular frustration remains as our Kenyan correspondent tells us.
00:35Today was supposed to be the day when Kenyans took back their country. It had been
00:39dubbed Nani Nani on social media which means 8-8 in Swahili, referring to the
00:448th of August which is a historic day of protests in Kenya. However despite a lot
00:49of mobilisation on social media ahead of the event, security officials once again
00:54made it almost impossible to protest.
00:57At every corner we are barraged by tear gas, we are barraged by the threat of live
01:03bullets, we are barraged by batons and unlawful arrests and we are having
01:09trouble trying to pursue our goals here. We are not trying to cause any harm,
01:14we're not trying to disrupt any businesses, we're not trying to harm any
01:17people here, we are simply trying to convey our issues to the people who are
01:22supposed to be listening to us. The police are throwing tear gas just for
01:26holding a flag and I have actually had a friend here on Twitter post that they've
01:32been arrested simply for singing the national anthem. They're all over here,
01:37they have shot some of us, my friends, they have shot journalists, they have
01:41really put measures so that they don't, we don't even come to central business
01:46district which is very very wrong. The demonstrations were sparked in June by a
01:50finance bill that would have increased people's taxes. Under pressure, President
01:54William Ruto was forced to withdraw that bill. He also fired almost everyone in
01:59his cabinet and nominated key opposition members. But for a lot of Kenyans that's
02:03still not enough. They are frustrated by systemic corruption and unemployment.
02:08They are also angry about the excessive force used by the police. Since the
02:13beginning of the protests at least 60 people have been killed and dozens more
02:18are still missing.