Deadly weeklong protests across Kenya are more lethal than previously known. President William Ruto said in an address Tuesday, June 25 that five people had been killed. It was later reported 20 people had died protesting the controversial tax bill.
But new information suggests dozens more people, many of them children, may have been killed.
The tax legislation would levy heavy new assessments on all Kenyans, including young people who’ve not even joined the workforce yet.
Ruto has withdrawn the bill that has enraged Kenyans of all ages, especially young people who set fire to the Parliament building in Nairobi on Tuesday. Notwithstanding their anger over the legislation that could force them to accept government loans to pay taxes even though they have no jobs, there are allegations of a possible cover-up in the killing of Kenyans.
Auma Obama, founder and director of the Sauti Kuu Foundation, told WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green more than 100 people have reportedly been killed by police who followed them after some of them protested the bill.
Obama, sister of former U.S. President Barack Obama, also warned the West, particularly the U.S., to pay attention to what’s happening.