One dead after tax protests in Kenyan capital

NAIROBI

A man died after mass demonstrations against proposed tax hikes in the Kenyan capital on June 20, police said, with Amnesty International saying it was a protester who had been shot.

Led largely by Gen-Z Kenyans, the protests began in Nairobi earlier this week before spreading nationwide, galvanised by widespread discontent over President William Ruto's economic policies as many already grapple with a cost-of-living crisis.

The June 20 demonstrations in Nairobi were mostly peaceful, but officers fired tear gas and water canon throughout the day in an attempt to disperse people who gathered to protest near parliament.

"We received information yesterday about the death of a demonstrator, an investigation is under way, our agents are on the ground to investigate," the Independent Policing Oversight Authority told AFP on on June 21.

According to a police report seen by AFP, a 29-year-old man was taken to hospital in Nairobi's central district at around 7 p.m. "unconscious with a thigh injury" before "succumbing" to his injuries, without giving further details.

Mathias Kinyoda, spokesman for Amnesty International Kenya, told AFP that "one demonstrator was shot yesterday in the CBD (central business district) as he was trying to run away from the police".

Kinyoda said the person had died.

He said that the shooter "was wearing plain clothes but he was accompanying the police", and called for an investigation.