Nairobi: Kenya's police boss resigned on Friday, the latest attempt by the country's president to respond to growing concerns of police brutality in response to protests triggered by a proposed tax hike.
Protesters stormed parliament on June 25 after a bill was passed that proposed tax increases, forcing lawmakers to flee through an underground tunnel. Police responded by opening fire on protesters in the streets. The protests have morphed into calls for President William Ruto to resign.
Ruto has sought to respond to the social outcry with a series of steps. He withdrew the tax hike proposal and on Thursday he followed up by dismissing almost all of his Cabinet ministers. He vowed to form a new government that would be lean and efficient.
In his latest move on Friday, Ruto accepted the resignation of Inspector General Japhet Koome. The presidential office said the deputy, Douglas Kanja, would step in as acting inspector general.
The social unrest has played out in a country generally viewed as a regional leader in Africa due to its size and political stability, and it is a key ally of Western countries in the counterterrorism fight and other issues.
Underlining its international role, 400 Kenyan police landed in violence-hit Haiti in recent weeks to lead a UN-backed multinational force. Underlying Kenya's stature, President Joe Biden honoured Ruto with a state dinner at the White House in May.
Human rights groups have accused Kenyan police of carrying out abductions and illegal detentions as they crack down on the recent protests. Some of the victims have been released and an independent policing oversight body has asked them to record statements that will help in a probe into police conduct.
Police confirmed on Friday that six bodies wrapped in sacks and several other body parts had been recovered from a quarry near Mukuru kwa Njenga, a slum in the capital, Nairobi. Police said the six were all female and appeared to have been killed in a similar way. The recovery operation will continue on Saturday after human rights activists said more bodies had been sighted.
Hundreds of university students on Friday blocked a major highway protesting the death of a colleague whose body was found in a different quarry on the outskirts of Nairobi. Demonstrators alleged that police killed him because he posted a video of himself inside parliament during the June 25 protests.
Protesters had from June 18 called for the sacking of ministers over incompetence, corruption and displays of opulence amidst the high taxation and cost of living crisis. Ballooning debt in Kenya is expected to grow even more after the protests forced the rejection of the finance bill that Ruto initially said was needed to raise revenue.
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