Tuesday morning witnessed intense clashes as police arrested numerous protesters in Nairobi who were demonstrating against the Finance Bill 2024.
The protests, known as ‘Occupy Parliament’, were aimed at exerting pressure on parliament to remove contentious tax proposals on the Finance Bill.
Young Kenyans had rallied under hashtags such as #RejectFinanceBill2024 and #OccupyParliament to voice their outrage against what they view as overly burdensome tax proposals.
Among those arrested was activist and journalist Hanifa Fasafi, who was participating in the protest at the National Archives.
There was a heavy police presence, which included both uniformed and plainclothed officers who were heavily armed after Nairobi Police Boss Adamson Bungei declared the protests illegal.
The Law Society of Kenya has termed Bungei’s actions illegal and tantamount to suppresing the freedom to protest as enshrined in the constitution.
“We demand that Bungei calls off his directive immediately and instructs his officers to stand down from making any arbitrary arrest or meting violence against the protestors,” read part of a statement by LSK.
“We are closely monitoring today’s events and will take legal action to find Bungei and any officer who violates the rights of the protestors on account of his instructions personally liable for any breaches of the Constitution and the National Police Service Act,” the statement added.
