The Kenyan police have used tear gas and arrested several senior opposition politicians as hundreds of people protested against President William Ruto, the high cost of living and claims of cheating in last year’s election.
Veteran political figure Raila Odinga, who lost to Ruto in August’s poll, has urged nationwide protests as he attempts to harness dissatisfaction with the president.
The discontented include some who voted for Ruto and feel he has not delivered on pledges to help the country’s forgotten “hustlers”, or working-class Kenyans.
Police officers in riot gear fired tear gas at hundreds of rock-throwing protesters in the capital Nairobi’s vast Kibera slum, who chanted: “Ruto must go.”
They also used tear gas to disperse demonstrators trying to gather in the Central Business District, from where Odinga has called for a march towards the president’s State House residence, Reuters reporters said.
In the western city of Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold, police fired barrages of tear gas in the direction of protesters who had started fires in the road, footage on Citizen TV showed.
At least four members of parliament were arrested during protests in Nairobi, including the minority leaders of the National Assembly and Senate, Odinga’s spokesman, Dennis Onyango, said.
