The Kenyan High Court has approved the use of military force to restore order, following days of anti-tax protests that at some point overwhelmed police.
Armoured military vehicles patrolled streets in the capital, Nairobi, on Thursday as police fired tear gas to disperse protesters, who had threatened to storm the presidential palace. "To deploy the military in a blanket manner without defining their scope of operation and the duration of their operation is a dangerous trend that can bring about militarisation of the country," ruled Justice Lawrence Mugambi.
President William Ruto on Wednesday bowed to pressure and said he would withdraw the finance bill containing the unpopular tax proposals, a day after parliament was briefly stormed and set ablaze by angry protesters.that the withdrawal of the bill was a "huge blow to the government as it left a "big hole" in the budget.