Protests in Kenya: Parliament seized, fatalities reported

Protesters in Kenya stormed the parliament building after a session where a decision was made to raise taxes. Demonstrators are vandalizing and setting administrative buildings on fire.

According to local media, 8 people have already died, and more than 200 have been injured during the protests, which have been ongoing for several days.

Yesterday, Biden announced Kenya as one of the main US allies outside of NATO. (hahaha!)

There are reports that the pro-USA President of the country has just been evacuated from his residence using NATO helicopters. 

adding:

On the mass unrest in Kenya

Since June 20th, there have been daily protests in Kenya with thousands of people participating.

The reason for the protests was the government's proposal to introduce additional fees on basic goods such as bread, vegetable oil and sugar in order to overcome the budget deficit. These measures caused understandable unrest across the country, as the population is already struggling to make ends meet, and additional taxes will only exacerbate the situation.

▪️On June 20th, protests in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and other major cities gathered thousands of people, against whom the police used tear gas and, as reported, live ammunition. During the suppression of the rallies, 1 protester was killed and another 200 were injured.

Soon after, the parliament decided to revise the budget amendments on June 25th. For this same day, the opposition planned large-scale protests, which are now unfolding and have already resulted in the storming of government buildings.

▪️Meanwhile, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura suspected foreign powers of sponsoring the protests. In the same speech, he mentioned that the current president Ruto could have made statements that displeased other people.

In particular, he reminded of the Kenyan leader's participation in the Ukrainian peace summit in Switzerland. Thus, he indirectly accused the Russian leadership of instigating the protests.

▪️Also, some Western observers note the appearance of the Russian flag at the protests, which does not indicate the presence of instigators from Russia. Recently, the tricolor has become a symbol of protest against the West on the African continent, and in the logic of rallies directed against the government, its appearance is quite appropriate.

🔻The reaction of the Kenyan officials shows how the Western press has influenced the local government. Now all the problems within the country can be conveniently attributed to the cursed Russians, instead of seeing the beam in their own eye. And it's understandable: just the other day, Kenya became the main non-NATO ally of the USA, and the new status obliges a certain politeness on a whole range of foreign policy issues.

@rybar