NAIROBI - Shops and schools in Kenya reopened on yesterday despite a fresh round of opposition protests that have led to deadly clashes and sparked appeals for dialogue to end the crisis. Two people died on Wednesday, the second of three days of demonstrations called this week by veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, and the authorities said more than 300 people had been arrested.
The toll adds to more than a dozen fatalities since March, when Odinga mounted his campaign, triggering alarm in the international community. His Azimio alliance on Wednesday evening urged “Kenyans to come out in an even bigger way tomorrow”.
Schools in Nairobi and the opposition bastions of Kisumu and Mombasa reopened yesterday, with the interior ministry assuring Kenyans that it had taken “adequate measures to guarantee the safety and security of learners”. Nairobi’s business district, which was largely shuttered on Wednesday, also resumed activity, with stores reopening and office-goers heading to work.
“Yesterday, I did not go out because I was expecting some mess, and the schools were closed. But I am out today, life is getting back to normal,” urban planner Godfrey Mononyi told AFP.
Bookseller Charles Muru, 51, said he shut his kiosk on Wednesday due to “fear of the protests”. “Today it is near to normal, not normal yet, but we are getting there,” he told AFP
Police have used tear gas and live rounds to disperse stone-throwing crowds, sparking outrage from rights groups, with two people shot dead on Wednesday in Kisumu, according to a hospital official.
Although Wednesday’s protests appeared to be more muted, with fewer reports of casualties resulting from sporadic clashes, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said the authorities had arrested over 300 people for looting, arson, robbery and assault.
It is the third time this month that Odinga has staged mass rallies against a government he says is illegitimate and to blame for a cost-of-living crisis.
The government in turn has accused the opposition of derailing efforts to improve the economy, with Ruto on Wednesday urging police to take firm action against “criminals, gangs and anarchists and all the people who want to cause mayhem”. - Nampa/AFP