Occupy State House plan still-born after youth change protests course

Anti-Finance Bill protesters carry their colleague who was shot by police. [Boniface Okendo, Standard] More protests were staged on the streets of Nairobi on Thursday, a day after President William Ruto bowed to pressure mounted by Gen Z over the contentious Finance Bill, 2024. The protesters, unbowed, chanted "Ruto must go" as they changed course of protests, which had earlier targeted State House and engaged police in running battles for the better part of the day. The protests were driven by mobilisation through #OccupyParliament hashtag and #RejectFinanceBill2024 mainly on X and TikTok. Administration Police and General Service Unit in anti-riot gear shoot in the air and launched teargas canisters to disperse youth who engaged officers in running battles in the city. Initially, the protesters had vowed to march to State House but heavy security deterred their cause. Roads leading to State House were completely cordoned off by police. There was little vehicular movements with most shops closed for the better part of the day. Public service transport was interrupted as vehicle owners grounded their vehicles For the entire part of the day, teargas rented the CBD air, as police battled the demonstrators, arresting many in the process. Downtown areas of Kirinyaga Road, River Road, Ronald Ngala Street remained battle zones the entire afternoon as police, both in uniform and plain-clothes chased demonstrators out of the CBD. Several protesters were shot and some injured in the downtown streets as media were denied entry to the areas. According to Kelvin Mwololo, secretary-general of Medics for Kenya, which had set a medical centre at Jamia Mosque area since demonstrations started, they received over 50 injury victims. "We have received people who have sustained injuries from live bullets, teargas canisters and rubber bullets and so far we gave received about 50 cases," said Mwololo. Part of those attended to included journalists who got injured in the protests. But even as protestors engaged police in running battles, they argued that not assenting to the Bill by the President was not enough. In fact, they wanted the President to step down. After they occupied Parliament on Tuesday and the President withdrawing the Bill, the protestors were on Thursday on the streets for an expanded cause: 'Ruto must go'. Some of the protestors who spoke to The Standard expressed their displeasure with how Ruto's regime has handled their taxes. According to them, the President's reluctance to address rampant graft in government institutions and the perceived misappropriation of public funds signalled incompetence by the Head of State. "They tell us the government cannot function without taxes. Yes, we are willing to pay, but why is the President reluctant to curb graft in the government?" asked Mary, one of the protesters. To others, high unemployment in the country pushed them to the streets to protest. "We are jobless, the government is unwilling to listen to us, and we will force them to respond. We are tired," said Alice Githinji, a Nairobi resident participating in the demonstrations. Alice said she holds a bachelor's degree in Computer science. As the course of protests took a new twist, businessmen were counting losses for the second time this week. Most businesses including retail supermarkets, clothes and mobile phone shops, eateries and banks remained closed as police battled the deviant protesters most of the day. On Thursday, looters took advantage of demonstrations to cut metal barriers and break glass windows of shops and made away with goods worth millions of shillings. Naivas supermarket outlets along Ronald Ngala Street and on Development House suffered major looting by protesters, who broke metallic doors and emptied shelves. Quickmart supermarket located on Mfangano Street near Afya Centre was not spared either, so was Nairobi Veterinary Centre, Agricultural Development Corporation branch and ATM machines belonging to KCB and Absa Kenya banks located on Development House. Medallion restaurant near Development House on Moi Avenue was broken into and looted. Several shops on ground and first floors of RNG Plaza on Ronald Ngala Street were looted. "I have suffered a loss of more than Sh2 million worth of phones and CCTV equipment stock," said Chrispus Mwanzi, a shop owner at RNG Plaza.

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