Once the protests grow violent, Kenyan activists reconsider their approach

After violent and looting-filled demonstrations on Tuesday, activists spearheading Kenya’s anti-government protests are reevaluating their approach out of concern that it may jeopardize the movement and its attempts to force President William Ruto to step down.

The activists claim that politicians hired “goons” to either undermine lawful protestors or forward their own objectives were responsible for the violence. On social media, several urged people to call off Thursday’s scheduled march.

Ojango Omondi, an activist in Nairobi’s capital, told Reuters that “it seems the state has realized that the only way to counter this movement is by using goons to incite violence, break into people’s property, loot, and tarnish our cause.”

“It’s time to go back to the drawing board and strategies on how best to overcome this violence and keep our protests focused on their true objectives.”

A request for response from the Kenyan government spokesperson was not answered. The Interior Minister, Kithure Kindike, attempted to “politicize crime” by attributing violence to “hordes of marauding criminal gangs” in a statement released on Tuesday.

Though demonstrators were met with tear gas and water cannons by the police, the first protests over the proposed tax hikes last month were largely nonviolent.

Kenyans from all ethnic backgrounds came together to mobilize around shared economic concerns, which was a departure from earlier protest movements that were usually led by political elites with ethnic issues frequently at the forefront.

When some protesters briefly entered parliament last week and the police opened fire, killing dozens of people, the protests turned violent.

Ruto retracted the tax hikes the following day. However, demonstrators pledged to continue and issued a list of demands, including the resignation of Ruto and anti-corruption legislation.

Protests on Tuesday were violent almost from the start. Young men who threw stones at police battled in Nairobi and other cities. Shipowners armed themselves with clubs and sticks as looters assaulted enterprises.

A young actress named Foi Wambui, who had come to protest in downtown Nairobi, announced that she was leaving because of the mayhem.

“What has happened is that peaceful protesters are deterred from coming to town, and we are deterred from actually coming and practising our civic duties,” she stated to Reuters.

SHOUTING AT THE MOVEMENT

Ruto and the administration have typically made a distinction in their official remarks between those who are peaceful protestors and those who they consider to be criminals who have taken over the demonstrations.

However, its supporters have taken advantage of the violence to attempt to undermine the movement, which is well-known for its youthful followers as the Gen Z protests.

Dennis Itumbi, a close associate of Ruto in the political consulting business, uploaded a video showing some young men stealing from another man on X. The location and time of the video’s capture were unclear.

“Congratulations Gen-Z for your Peaceful and democratic protests along the streets,” Itumbi remarked in a tweet. “The cops have no right to obstruct your actions.
The head of communications for the presidency, Gerald Bitok, stated that youth were starting to oppose the demonstrations.

“The Gen Zs and the young people of this country have made it crystal clear that going forward, they will not be part of the demonstrations that are now synonymous with terror,” he stated on X.

One protest movement supporter said that the movement was partially to blame for the mayhem on Tuesday night at a public discussion on X that drew over 400,000 attendees. This was because the movement continued to call for demonstrations even after Ruto withdrew the tax hikes.

“You are equally culpable if you are still beating the drums of war,” he stated.
While some speakers blamed what they called “paid goons,” others thought protestors should back off and cancel Thursday’s demonstration.

“We will have more casualties and we will not achieve what we want,” a single person stated. “Let’s retreat now. Let’s plan.