Tensions High In Kenya As Activists Disappear In Deadly Protests

by Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

NAIROBI (Worthy News) – Tensions remained high in the streets of Kenya’s capital Monday after dozens of activists said they were snatched from their homes or off the streets by hooded, armed men.

Some were reportedly still missing, and the disappearances unnerved a nation long seen as a pillar of stability, commentators said.

One activist was taken while organizing a blood drive for wounded protesters, Worthy News learned.

Another said he was snatched as he worked at home after midnight, his wife and three children sleeping nearby. A third said he was beaten and blindfolded before being tossed into the trunk of a car.

All of them explained that they were swept up by government security forces in Kenya over the past two weeks after they had spoken out against a contentious bill to raise taxes in the cash-strapped East African nation.

Some had participated in the wave of antigovernment protests that rocked Kenya after the bill was first introduced.

DOZENS DETAINED

At least 39 people were killed during clashes with the police in June, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

At least 32 people, including activists, medical workers, and social media influencers, have been abducted or arbitrarily detained, according to interviews conducted by The New York Times newspaper with human rights monitors and dozens of activists, including five who recounted being seized.

Footage seen by Worthy News showed harsh clashes between locals and riot police.

Concerns about Kenya’s future also became evident when hundreds attended a concert in Nairobi on Sunday, chanting slogans and dancing, to commemorate the more than three dozen people killed in the recent anti-government protests that started on June 18.

“The government is listening now because of the protests. So we are kind of happy, but there’s also a lot of sadness because so many people died for the government to listen,” activist Boniface Mwangi, who was attending the concert, said.

Yet President William Ruto, a Christian, faces an uphill battle to convince the nation to remain united and support his policies.

GREEN SPACE

At the concert of local artists in Uhuru Park, a vast green space in the center of Nairobi, youth held placards reading “RIP Comrades” and “We promise we’ll keep fighting” while the crowd chanted “Ruto must go.”

Others hammered crosses into the ground, witnesses said.

Amid a public outcry, Ruto scrapped the tax bill, which would have introduced new taxes that Kenyans say would raise the already high cost of living.

On Friday, Ruto also proposed new austerity measures, such as reducing the number of his advisers and the dissolution of 47 state corporations to help fill a budget gap caused by the withdrawal of the tax hikes due to raise $2.7 billion.

Sunday’s concert was held on Saba Saba Day, July 7, which marks the day in 1990 when similar protests began that eventually forced the government of the late leader Daniel Arap Moi to return the country to multi-party politics.

For now, “we’re also mourning,” Boniface Mwangi said. “And we’re telling the families of those who lost their loved ones, we’re with you, and we shall honor their sacrifice.”

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