Kenyan police clash with protesters and block streets
Kenyan police have fired tear gas at dozens of protesters and blocked off streets leading to the presidential palace as small demonstrations continued in several cities, even after the president bowed to pressure to withdraw a tax hike bill.
Turnout on Thursday was well down from the height of the mass rallies sparked by the bill in the past week.
President William Ruto withdrew the legislation on Wednesday, a day after clashes killed at least 23 people and parliament was briefly stormed and set alight.
Ruto is grappling with the most serious crisis of his two-year-old presidency as the youth-led protest movement has grown rapidly from online condemnations of the tax hikes into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul.
Lacking a formal leadership structure, however, protester were divided on how far to go.
"Let's not be foolish as we fight for a better Kenya," prominent activist Boniface Mwangi said in an Instagram post.
He voiced support for demonstrations on Thursday but opposed calls to invade State House, the president's formal offices and residence, a move that he said could spur more violence and be used to justify a crackdown.
In the capital, Nairobi, police and soldiers patrolled the streets on Thursday and blocked access to State House.
Police fired tear gas to disperse several dozen people who had gathered in the centre of the city.
Elsewhere, hundreds of protesters gathered in the port city of Mombasa and in the western city of Kisumu, although those gatherings appeared peaceful.
While some protest supporters said they would not demonstrate on Thursday as the finance bill had been scrapped, others pledged to press on, saying only Ruto's resignation would satisfy them.
"Right now is not about just the finance bill but about #RutoMustGo," political activist and protester Davis Tafari told Reuters in a text message.
"We have to make sure that Ruto and his MPs have resigned and fresh elections are held ... We occupy State House for dignity and justice."
Ruto on Wednesday defended his push to raise taxes on items such as bread, cooking oil and nappies, saying it was justified by the need to cut Kenya's high debt, which has made borrowing difficult and squeezed the currency.
But he acknowledged the public had overwhelmingly rejected the finance bill.
He said he would start a dialogue with Kenyan youth and work on austerity measures, beginning with cuts to the budget of the presidency.
The International Monetary Fund, which has been urging the government to cut its deficit to obtain more funding, said it was closely monitoring the situation in Kenya.
"Our main goal in supporting Kenya is to help it overcome the difficult economic challenges it faces and improve its economic prospects and the wellbeing of its people," the IMF said in a statement.
From big cities to rural areas, most of Kenya's 47 counties saw protests on Tuesday.
At least 23 people were killed nationwide and 30 were being treated for bullet wounds, the Kenya Medical Association said.
