On multiple occasions, Kenyan police mischaracterized the killings by security officers of protesters during mass anti-government demonstrations last July as accidents or “mob justice,” Reuters reports. Prominent rights groups have accused Kenyan authorities of covering up dozens of police killings, abductions and illegal detentions related to the protests.
Our Take
The monthlong anti-government protests that broke out in Kenya late last June were triggered by a finance bill that would have reformed the country’s tax code, a condition for an IMF bailout that also would have raised the cost of living for millions of Kenyans. As a result, the protests initially underscored the tensions between the government’s goal of reducing the country’s debt burden and Kenyans’ popular aspirations for effective governance that better addresses their day-to-day concerns. Based on Kenyan President William Ruto’s decision not to sign the bill into law, it seemed at first like the protesters had come out on top.
And yet, Kenyan authorities’ violent repression of the youth-led protests also suggested that, while the protesters may have succeeded in getting the government to back down on the tax reform, their broader fight for better governance would be much longer and more challenging. And despite outcry from human rights activists about the violent police response last year, Kenyan police misconduct continues unabated, with authorities tear-gassing a mass protest against a spike in femicides just last month.