Heed US call on how to handle protesters, civil society organisations

Anti-riot police officers confront a protester during the Anti-Finance Bill 2024 demonstrations along Kenyatta Avenue on June 27, 2024. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last week urged President William Ruto to respect the youth and civil society organisations.

The caution appears to have been informed by the manner in which the government handled Gen Z protests that paralysed activities across the country in recent weeks. The last protest caused disruptions at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. 

On June 25, Gen Z staged countrywide protests to demand total withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024, aggrieved by its proposal to increase taxes. In what were largely peaceful demonstrations, however, police officers’ heavy-handedness triggered chaos that resulted in the protesters invading Parliament and the Supreme Court, where they set part of the buildings on fire.

These actions did not go down well with President William Ruto who threatened to take stern action against the ‘criminals’ who carried out the transgression against Parliament.

Ruto subsequently withdrew the Finance Bill 2024, but Gen Z moved the goalposts and demanded the dismantling of the Cabinet, which, again, Ruto acquiesced only to be met with ‘Ruto must go chants’.  Follow-up demos by Gen Z made Ruto to blame the US Ford Foundation, accusing it of funding chaos in Kenya. 

In defence, the Ford Foundation denied the accusation and welcomed the government to visit its website where all its activities are posted for accountability. To date, the government is yet to establish a link between the Ford Foundation and the protests. 

Trigger-happy police officers have been accused of killing at least 50 innocent protesters and being responsible for the disappearance of 32 others who, to date, are yet to be found. The Kenya Human Rights Commission alleges more than 361 people were seriously injured while at least 630 were arrested. 

These extra-judicial killings of Kenyans exercising their right to picket have sullied Kenya’s already poor human rights record, enhancing the animosity citizens have towards a government they consider insensitive to their needs amid soaring unemployment rates and cost of living. This week, Kenyans could experience more Gen Z protests if the youth keep to their promise to exert more pressure on Ruto to quit by staging demos on Thursday.  In the event that the demos materialise, there is need for police to exercise restraint while handling the protests.

Granted, at some point rogue elements take advantage of such situations to cause mayhem, but that does not give police officers carte blanche to maim and kill. Lawbreakers can be apprehended without police officers resorting to extra-judicial killings. The protesters, on the other hand, have a duty to ensure they follow the law, which does not envisage looting or destruction of property while at it.

How Kenya has handled the protest so far appears not to have received approbation from the US and could sour relations, barely three months after Ruto visited the White House, whose visit was meant to cement our long-standing trade and bilateral relationships.