Kenya's turmoil widens as anti-government protesters clash with emerging pro-government group

Kenya’s turmoil widens as anti-government protesters clash with emerging pro-government group

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Protesters clashed in Kenya’s capital on Tuesday, as pro-government supporters took to the streets of Nairobi on motorcycles on Tuesday morning ahead of a planned demonstration by anti-government rivals. Kenya’s anti-government protests entered their fifth week, having started as calls for legislators to vote against a finance bill that proposed new taxes. Police last week banned protests in Nairobi citing the lack of clear leadership to coordinate with police to ensure safety and security. (AP video shot by Idi Ali Juma and Josephat Kasire )

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Protesters barricade the street with rocks and burning tires during anti-government protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday,July 23, 2024. Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with a pro-government group on Tuesday, leading to the burning of a motorcycle that belonged to people who were voicing their support for the president. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

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Anti-government protesters watch as a motorbike belonging to a pro-government supporter burns on the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

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Protesters barricade the street with rocks and burning fire during anti-government protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with a pro-government group Tuesday,, leading to the burning of a motorcycle that belonged to people who were voicing their support for the president. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

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A riot police officer argues with an anti-government protester during a peaceful protest in Mombasa, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Gideon Maundu)

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Demonstrators carry a Kenyan flag during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with a pro-government group on Tuesday, leading to the burning of a motorcycle that belonged to people who were voicing their support for the president. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Demonstrators march during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with a pro-government group on Tuesday, leading to the burning of a motorcycle that belonged to people who were voicing their support for the president. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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A police officer chases demonstrators during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Demonstrators block a road in front of a police vehicle during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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A police officer disperses demonstrators using teargas during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with a pro-government group on Tuesday, leading to the burning of a motorcycle that belonged to people who were voicing their support for the president. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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An anti-riot officer covers his face with a mask during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

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A man jumps over a fire during a protest on the street in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Police officers clear a bonfire blocking a road during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with a pro-government group on Tuesday, leading to the burning of a motorcycle that belonged to people who were voicing their support for the president. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Demonstrators on motorcycles gesture during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Demonstrators sit in a pick up truck and others on foot march during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Protesters chanting slogans during anti-government protest in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with a pro-government group on Tuesday, leading to the burning of a motorcycle that belonged to people who were voicing their support for the president. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

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Anti-government demonstrators run after riot police officers fired a tear gas to disperse them during a peaceful protest along the streets of Mombasa, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Gideon Maundu)

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Protesters run as police use water cannon during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

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A police officer charges towards protesters during a protest on the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

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Police carry away a pro-government protester along the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital clashed with an emerging pro-government group on Tuesday, with hundreds swarming and burning a motorcycle belonging to people who expressed support for the country’s president. The military made a rare deployment as the protests focused on the country’s main airport.

The weeks of turmoil in East Africa’s economic hub have led to dozens of deaths, the firing of most Cabinet members and calls for President William Ruto’s resignation. Protests began with Kenyans’ rejecting a proposed bill to impose more taxes as millions in the country barely get by amid rising prices.

The pro-government movement has emerged to counter the youth-led anti-government one. In Nairobi on Tuesday, the pro-government group took to the streets ahead of the latest anti-government demonstration.

One protester, Charles Onyango, questioned why police were not confronting the pro-government demonstrators yet again dispersed those calling for change.

“Police are just standing by and letting these (suspected) hired goons to disrupt our protests and cause chaos,” Onyango said.

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It was not immediately clear who was behind the pro-government movement.

Kenya’s main airport was meant to be the site of the latest protest, and anti-government demonstrators lit bonfires in a suburb along the highway that leads to it. Airport officials asked travelers to arrive early, and flights continued.

Police hurled tear-gas canisters at hundreds of protesters who blocked another road that leads to the airport, and the military was deployed to the Pipeline area east of the capital.

Protests also were reported in Kenya’s second largest city, the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa, as well as the city of Kisumu on Lake Victoria and Migori.

Kenya’s anti-government protests are in their fifth week. Under pressure, President William Ruto declined to sign the bill imposing new taxes and dismissed almost all Cabinet ministers, but protesters continue to call for his resignation.

At least 50 people have died and 413 others have been injured in the protests since June 18, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. The political opposition is demanding that families of those killed be compensated and that charges against those arrested during protests be dropped.

Police have stopped saying how many arrests they make in the protests. Rights groups, opposition figures and family members for weeks have expressed concern about alleged abductions by officers.

Police last week banned protests in Nairobi, citing the movement’s lack of clear leadership to coordinate with authorities to ensure safety and security. But the high court issued an order suspending the ban on protests. Kenya’s constitution guarantees the right to peaceful protest.

Still, the acting police head, Douglas Kanja, on Tuesday asserted that Kenya’s main airport was a “protected area” and “out of bounds to unauthorized persons.”

Police in Kenya — hundreds of them newly deployed in Haiti to lead a United Nations-based multinational force to curb deadly gang violence — have long been accused by activists and civil society groups of violence toward demonstrators.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who earlier called for talks to calm the unrest, denied allegations that he had been bribed to join Ruto in forming a broad-based government and expressed his support to protesters.

Some protesters on Tuesday vowed to keep at it.

“(Everything) that is happening in our day will continue happening,” Julius Kamau Kimani said.