NAIROBI, KENYA - Kenyan President William Ruto vowed to take a tough line against"violence and anarchy" on Tuesday after protests against his government's proposed tax hikes turned deadly and demonstrators ransacked parliament.
"We shall provide a full, effective and expeditious response to today's treasonous events," Ruto told a press briefing in Nairobi, saying the demonstrations were"hijacked by dangerous people". African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat also expressed his"deep concern" and called on the country to refrain from further violence.Outrage over proposed tax hikes and simmering anger over a cost-of-living crisis fuelled rapidly growing demonstrations that have caught the government off guard.
The governor's office in Nairobi City Hall - just a few hundred metres from parliament - was set alight, footage on privately owned Citizen TV showed, with a water cannon attempting to douse the fire. The military deployment was"in response to the security emergency" across Kenya, Defence Minister Aden Bare Duale said in a statement.
But it still intends to raise other taxes to fill the void left by the changes, including on fuel prices and export taxes, saying they are necessary for filling the state coffers and cutting reliance on external borrowing.
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