Protesters in Kenya have vowed \u201ca total shutdown\u201d as they seize control of Nairobi\u2019s main international airport on Tuesday as deadly anti-government demonstrations intensify, now entering their sixth week. <\/p>\n
At least 50 people have been killed during the protests and more than 400 injured, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. <\/p>\n
Widely shared social media posters encourage protesters to close all roads leading to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and cause a \u201ctotal shutdown.\u201d <\/p>\n
Authorities said in a statement on Monday night that they increased security at the airport and warned against trespassing on protected areas, saying it was an offense punishable by law. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge all individuals participating in demonstrations to respect these legal provisions from attempting to enter or interfere with protected areas,\u201d acting Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja said. <\/p>\n
The youth-led protests began last month after national outrage about a controversial finance bill that would have dramatically raised taxes on basic commodities. <\/p>\n
After President William Ruto was forced to pull the bill, demonstrators shifted their attention to protesting against his legitimacy, corruption in his government and police brutality. <\/p>\n
Ruto on Friday renominated six ministers after he fired the entire cabinet last month due to public pressure, reigniting public anger over their renomination. <\/p>\n
The cabinet nominees still need parliamentary approval, but they\u2019re likely to be confirmed since Ruto\u2019s party holds the required majority. <\/p>\n
On Sunday, the president expressed frustration with the protests, declaring that \u201cenough is enough\u201d after failed attempts at dialogue. <\/p>\n
\u201cGoing forward, we will protect the nation. We will protect life, property, we will stop the looters, killers, mayhem and anarchy because Kenya is a democracy, and we want a peaceful, stable nation,\u201d Ruto said. <\/p>\n
The protesters have largely organized on TikTok, X and other social media platforms by mostly Gen-Z citizens who have refused to identify a leader, drawing anger from Ruto. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey keep saying they\u2019re faceless, formless. I\u2019ve told them I\u2019ve given a chance to everybody to say whatever they want. It cannot continue like this,\u201d Ruto added. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Protesters in Kenya have vowed \u201ca total shutdown\u201d as they seize control of Nairobi\u2019s main international airport on Tuesday as deadly anti-government demonstrations intensify, now entering their sixth week. At least 50 people have been killed during the protests and more than 400 injured, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. Widely shared social media <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}