5 people were killed by the police during a protest against the new finance bill in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. On Tuesday, after thousands of protesters entered the Parliament building and started arson and vandalism, the MPs fled from there. According to the BBC, at least 5 people were killed when the police fired to control the crowd. Despite strong opposition, the bill was passed by the parliament on Tuesday. With the passage of the new law, taxes will increase for citizens. Many videos of the demonstration have come out. It seems that clashes between protesters and police have taken place in many places including Nairobi.
The police also fired tear gas at the crowd and water cannons. In Nairobi, the police opened fire to disperse the crowd, while the demonstrators also threw stones at the police. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the Kenyan government will get 22,521 million rupees in additional revenue from the tax hike.
The government wants to reduce the debt burden through this. The government is currently spending 37 percent of its annual revenue to pay interest on loans.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, the Finance Bill was first introduced in the Parliament in May. The opposition parliamentarians also supported the opposition to the bill. There is a provision in this bill to improve and increase taxes. Under this, 5% tax has been increased on bank transfers and digital payments. Because of this, anger has increased as people are dependent on digital payment.