Kenyan riot police fired tear gas Monday to disperse demonstrators gathered in Nairobi for a day of action called by the opposition to protest the country’s punishing cost of living crisis.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga had called for mass nationwide protests after a deadline he set for President William Ruto’s government to lower the high cost of living expired last week. Odinga is hoping to tap into rising dissatisfaction with Ruto among many Kenyans, including some of his supporters in last year’s election, who feel he has not delivered on his pledges to be a voice for the country’s forgotten “hustlers”.
The government of President William Ruto has vowed to take a tough stance over the demonstrations, which opposition leader Raila Odinga vowed would go ahead despite not receiving police authorisation.
Demonstrators also hurled rocks at anti-riot police outside government offices in the capital, while about two dozen people were arrested, including two opposition MPs, correspondents at the scene said.
