Kenyan police have issued a ban on new opposition protests

After protests last week turned into riots, Kenya’s police chief announced a ban on new opposition demonstrations scheduled for Monday.

On Sunday, Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome told reporters, “We will not allow violent demonstrations.”

He added that his force was prepared to keep the peace and would arrest anyone in possession of offensive weapons. “The demonstrations they plan tomorrow (Monday) are illegal and will not be allowed,” he said.

But seasoned opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has urged people to demonstrate against President William Ruto over the high cost of living on Monday and Thursday, remained unyielding.

At a church service on Sunday, he urged “our supporters and all Kenyans to come out and join the peaceful demonstrations.”

He said, “I want to let Mr. Ruto and IG Koome know that we are not going to be intimidated. “We won’t be afraid of police or tear gas.”

The demonstrations on last Monday, which were also not authorized by the police, turned violent when riot police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse people who were throwing rocks and lighting tires on fire.

In ongoing clashes in Nairobi and opposition strongholds in western Kenya, a university student was killed by police fire while 31 officers were hurt, according to the police.

In addition to several prominent opposition politicians being detained, more than 200 people were also arrested. Odinga’s own convoy was also attacked with tear gas and water cannons.

“You all saw what happened last week, and we won’t allow that to happen again,” Koome said, referring to hooligans entering the town and robbing and destroying residents’ homes and places of business.

Since Ruto took office six months ago after defeating Odinga in an election his rival claims was “stolen,” it was the first significant act of political violence.

Expendable demonstrations

Many Kenyans are battling high prices for necessities, a declining local currency, and a record drought that has left millions of people hungry in order to put food on the table.

Ruto has already requested that the opposition leader put an end to the action before he departs the country on Sunday for a trip to Germany and Belgium.

Ruto said on Thursday, “I am telling Raila Odinga that if he has a problem with me, he should face me and stop terrorizing the country.

The protests last week were expensive for Nairobi, which lost more than half of its daily revenue as residents avoided the financial district, according to Johnson Sakaja, the city’s governor.

Rigathi Gachagua, the vice president, claimed that the protests cost the nation $15 million.

Ruto tried to position himself as the champion of the oppressed during the election campaign and promised to improve the lives of common Kenyans, or so-called “hustlers.”

However, he has since stopped providing subsidies for food staples like maize flour and fuel.

And despite Ruto’s insistence in January that there would be no increase, Kenya’s energy regulatory body announced last week that electricity prices would increase effective April 1.