July 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least one person was shot to death this Wednesday in the framework of the repression by the Kenyan security forces of the protests called by the opposition leader Raila Odinga for the increase in fuel taxes.
The deceased, who has not been identified, was shot during a protest in the town of Emali, located around the road that connects the capital, Nairobi, with the city of Mombasa, according to the Kenyan news portal K24. .
Both this portal and the Kenyan newspaper ‘The Nation’ have indicated that the man would have been shot after the Police opened fire on a group of people who set a police vehicle on fire and threw stones at a bank, without the authorities having ruled about.
The event took place after hundreds of residents erected barricades on the highway to try to cut off traffic in the area, in the midst of a series of mobilizations called by Odinga due to the rising cost of living, deepened by the economic crisis in after the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
The protests have paralyzed activities in several parts of the country, including the closure of shops, and prompted security forces to fire tear gas at various points, including an area of Nairobi where a high-ranking political event was scheduled to take place. of the opposition coalition Azimio.
Odinga stressed during the day that “the nationwide protests are a clear message to the regime of (Kenyan President William) Ruto.” “The message is loud and clear: Kenyans are tired,” he said, before adding that “no one will move until Ruto shows a willingness to listen and respect the Kenyan people.”
Odinga himself called at the end of June for a campaign of civil disobedience in response to Parliament’s decision to raise fuel taxes. “Let’s start boycotts of taxes,” defended the former prime minister, who rejected Ruto’s victory in the 2022 elections.
