William Ruto, Kenyan President, has described the escalating protests gripping the East African country as “treasonable”.
Since last week, a contentious finance measure has prompted youth-led rallies around the country. On Tuesday, the protests took a sharp turn when demonstrators broke through the barricade and gained entry to parliament.
Once inside, they threw aside flags, knocked over tables and chairs, grabbed the ceremonial mace, and set fire to a portion of the assembly.
There was an underground tunnel that lawmakers in the parliament building had to escape through. Next, the demonstrators would plunder MP-affiliated stores and nightclubs.
In an effort to put an end to the protests, police in Nairobi shot live ammunition and threw tear gas at the protestors.
Kenyan police were also seen beating and later arresting some paramedics who were helping injured protesters.
During a nationwide address after parliament was invaded, Ruto said Tuesday’s turn of events was a grave threat to “national security” and that the conversation around the bill had been “hijacked by dangerous people”.
“It is not in order, or even conceivable, that criminals pretending to be peaceful protesters can rain terror against the people, their elected representatives, and the institutions established under our constitution and expect to go scot-free,” the president said.
Ruto said democratic expression and crime must be isolated and vowed that the state would respond fully to the situation, reiterating his commitment to protect citizens.
Shortly after his speech, Aden Duale, cabinet secretary for defence and chairperson of the defence council, said the Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) has been deployed to “support” the police on the streets.
