Three people were shot dead after protests against Finance Bill 2024 turned ugly in Nakuru and Narok counties.
In Nakuru City, General Service Unit (GSU) personnel manning the Nakuru State Lodge opened fire at hundreds of protesters who were approaching the government installation along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
Two protesters who sustained gunshot wounds were taken to the Nakuru Level 5 Hospital, where they died while undergoing treatment. Their bodies were moved to the hospital's mortuary.
Nakuru Human Rights Network Director David Kuria said he was able to confirm the death of one young man.
According to witnesses in the Nakuru incident, protestors had completed several rounds of protest marches in Nakuru’s Central Business District before they moved towards the State Lodge along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
The police sealed off the road that passes outside the State Lodge and the adjacent Oginga Odinga Street, which stretches from Nakuru CBD to Section 58.
The protesters pulled down a billboard erected a few metres from the State Lodge that had the image of Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika.
During the protests that started at around 10 am, police were deployed at the home of Nakuru West MP Samuel Arama after youth threatened to burn it down.
The protestors claimed that the MP was a traitor for voting ‘Yes’ in support of the Finance Bill during its second reading.
The home of Molo MP Kuria Kimani in his constituency was raided by a group of protesters who razed down some structures before police intervened.
Kimani, who is the chairman of the National Assembly Finance and Planning Committee, has been a key figure in the debate around the Finance Bill 2024.
Top security officials failed to respond to the media regarding the incident in Nakuru.
County Commander Samuel Ndanyi did not respond to any calls or text messages.
In Narok town, one man was shot dead, and another is fighting for his life at the Narok referral hospital.
The man was shot by police while part of a mob attempting to enter the Narok North CDF offices near the county commissioner's offices.
In Naivasha, police engaged youth in running battles as they attempted to stop the protests.
The youth had lit bonfires and barricaded the Naivasha-Mai Mahiu Road for hours, forcing the officers to disperse them.
In Kericho town, police lobbed teargas canisters to disperse protestors who had blocked the Kericho-Kisumu highway.
[By Julius Chepkwony, Daniel Chege, Hilda Otieno Nikko Tanui, and Antony Gitonga]
