NAIROBI, Kenya July 19 – More than 300 people were arrested Wednesday as Kenyans took to the streets to protest the high cost of living.
The protests were called by Azimio leader Raila Odinga who has vowed to mobilise more protests Thursday.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said they were arrested in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and other towns where police clashed with protesters.
“More than 300 people have been arrested across the country and will be charged with various crimes, including looting, malicious damage of property, arson, robbery with violence, assaulting law enforcers among other crimes,” he said in a statement.
There were also reports of two people shot dead in Kisumu but the CS and police did not immediately confirm.
Odinga has vowed protests will continue Thursday, declaring “Kenyans should not give up.”
“We will continue with our peaceful demonstrations as planned. But we will stop at 5pm today and resume tomorrow (Thursday) morning,” he told the Daily Nation in a phone interview.
Odinga confirmed that his bodyguard Maurice Ogeta had been freed by police and called for the release of at least nine Azimio leaders arrested during Wednesday protests.
Among those arrested in Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo among others.
Dozens of Azimio supporters were also arrested in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and other towns as police fired tear gas at protesters who took to the streets in defiance of a government warning after earlier demonstrations turned violent with more than a dozen people killed in the past two weeks.
The opposition has vowed to stage three straight days of protests against President William Ruto’s government, alarming the international community which has joined calls for a political solution to the crisis.
Schools and shops were closed in Nairobi and the opposition bastions of Mombasa and Kisumu, with small groups of mostly young men setting fire to tyres and engaging in running battles with police.
But the government issued a statement late Wednesday ordering schools to re-open Thursday.
