Speed up probe into deaths during protests
Two reported deaths arising from protests against the government's proposed high taxes are a source of concern.
A post-mortem examination confirmed that a 29-year-old man shot by police during last Thursday’s anti-Finance Bill, 2024 protests had died from excessive bleeding while another lost his life hours after reportedly being struck by a teargas canister.
It is encouraging that a police watchdog has announced that it has started investigation. In reference to one of the killings, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has "documented the death” as due to a police shooting. It's a pity that lives have been lost simply because some Kenyans went into the streets to express their displeasure at the Kenya Kwanza administration’s tax plans.
Though Thursday's demonstrations in Nairobi were mostly peaceful, police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters in most city streets, including near Parliament. Also alarmed about the deaths are the Law Society of Kenya, the opposition Azimio la Umoja coalition and various human rights groups.
The LSK has condemned the killing as “heinous and tragic”, while denouncing as illegal and unconstitutional, the “disproportionate use of force, maiming, harassing and violating their right to hold peaceful protests and express grievances”.
During last year’s opposition anti-government protests against the high cost of living that had rendered the lives of the majority of Kenyans miserable, more than 70 mostly innocent people got killed and to date some of the suspects have yet to be brought to book.
The people’s right to picket or stage peaceful protests is enshrined in the Constitution, which also guarantees their freedoms of expression and association. It is only when law and order are threatened during such demos that strong-arm police actions can be justified. Last weeks’ protests were brutally broken up despite posing no security threat.
There is a need for thorough investigation of fatal shootings and the serious injuries inflicted on what have been described as young protesters. The police must respect the right of the people to stage peaceful protests.
