Six people have been killed in Kenya during recent protests organised by the opposition.
Three of the deaths were recorded on Wednesday at Mlolongo town, some 20 kilometres from Nairobi’s central business district.
“We also have two other deaths in Kitengela and one in Emali,” a police officer told AFP, with a second policeman also confirming the six fatalities in the three towns.
Kitengela is located in the neighbouring Kajiado County, while Emali is in Makueni County.
Six people died in the opposition-led protests last Friday, bringing to 12 the number of victims killed in the demos in under one week.
Earlier Wednesday, opposition leader Raila Odinga had called off a political rally that was to be held at Kamukunji Grounds in one of the constituencies in the capital city.
Odinga said they had received intelligence the government was plotting “hostile” actions to repulse the protesters.
“In order to protect our people and avert more injury and loss of lives, we have taken the strategic decision not to proceed with the rally at Kamkunji this afternoon. In any case, the people have made their point,” he said.
On Tuesday, Kenya’s Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome said they would block any grouping or protests by the opposition because the protesters had not alerted police prior to the demonstrations.
Odinga is leading weekly protests in Kenya to push the government to lower the cost of living and ditch the Finance Act 2023, which has introduced a raft of taxes that have seen the costs of petrol and transport increase significantly.
President William Ruto maintains the government needs more funds for daily operations, including recurrent expenditure and development, hence the higher taxes.
