Kenyan police ban opposition demonstrations

The country’s law enforcement has said it will not let violent protests from last week happen again

Police in Kenya have banned a protest planned for Monday in Nairobi. The proposed demonstrations by opposition leader Raila Odinga are illegal, according to Police Inspector General Japhet Koome.

What the government called unauthorized protests in several Kenyan cities last Monday turned into riots, killing one university student and injuring several others.

Protesters hurled rocks at riot police outside government offices in the capital and set tires ablaze in the streets. Police used tear gas and arrested three opposition leaders and over 200 protesters.

Demonstrators led by Odinga have called on President William Ruto to resign in light of rising prices and allegations that he was fraudulently elected.

The opposition leader has urged people to take to the streets on Monday and Thursday for further protests against the surging cost of living in Kenya.

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Kenyan Police have said the scheduled demonstration is “illegal and will not be allowed.” In a statement published by AFP on Sunday, Inspector General Koome said, “You all saw what happened last week and we won't allow that to happen again where hooligans come to town to loot and destroy people's property and businesses.”

Kenyan Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki warned against inciting public disorder and threatened to prosecute prior to last Monday’s protest. Odinga, on the other hand, insisted that protests in Kenya would go ahead as planned, citing a constitutional right to do so.

President Ruto, who is set to leave the country on Sunday for a trip to Europe, has called for a ceasefire, urging his rival to stop disturbing the peace. “I am telling Raila Odinga that if he has a problem with me, he should face me and stop terrorizing the country,” he said on Thursday.

Odinga, a five-time presidential candidate, was narrowly defeated by Ruto in an August 2022 vote. The supreme court denied his appeal to overturn Ruto’s victory due to a lack of evidence.