Five killed, 31 wounded in Kenya as protesters invade parliament.

Protesters try to help injured people outside the Kenya Parliament during a nationwide strike to protest against tax hikes and the Finance Bill 2024 in downtown Nairobi, on June 25, 2024. – Kenyan police shot dead one protester near the country’s parliament Tuesday, a rights watchdog said as demonstrators angry over proposed tax hikes breached barricades and entered the government complex, where a fire erupted. The mainly Gen-Z-led rallies, which began last week, have taken President William Ruto’s government by surprise, with the Kenyan leader saying over the weekend that he was ready to speak to the protesters. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)

Five people were shot dead and 31 wounded on Tuesday during protests in Kenya over proposed tax hikes, an NGO said.

“At least five people have been shot dead while treating the injured. Thirty-one people have been injured,” the Kenya Medical Association said in a statement.

According to reports, Kenyan police shot dead one protester near parliament Tuesday, a rights group said, with AFP journalists seeing three people lying motionless on the ground as crowds opposed to proposed tax hikes breached barricades to enter the parliamentary complex where a fire erupted.

The mainly Gen-Z-led rallies, which began last week, have caught the government off guard, with President William Ruto saying over the weekend he was ready to talk to the protesters.

But tensions sharply escalated on Tuesday afternoon, as crowds began to throw stones at police and push back against barricades, making their way towards the parliament complex, which was sealed off by police in full riot gear.

Police fired at crowds massing outside the parliament building, where lawmakers had been debating a contentious bill featuring tax hike proposals.

“Police have shot four protesters, as witnessed by KHRC, killing one,” the Kenya Human Rights Commission said in a statement on X.

Shortly before, Irungu Houghton, the executive director of Amnesty International Kenya, told AFP that “human rights observers are now reporting the increasing use of live bullets by the National Police Service in the capital of Nairobi”.

“Safe passage for medical officers to treat the many wounded is now urgent,” he said.

Anger over a cost-of-living crisis spiralled into nationwide rallies last week, with demonstrators calling for the finance bill to be scrapped.

Despite a heavy police presence, thousands of protesters had earlier marched through Nairobi’s business district, pushing back against barricades as they headed towards parliament.

As protesters gained ground in their push towards parliament, many were livestreaming the action earlier in the day as they sang, chanted and beat drums.

Crowds also marched in the port city of Mombasa, the opposition bastion of Kisumu, and Ruto’s stronghold of Eldoret, images on Kenyan TV channels showed.