Kenyan police fired tear gas to disperse a small group of protesters in Nairobi on Tuesday, as anti-government marches restarted after a month’s absence.
The police claimed to have apprehended 46 people who were “engaging in acts of criminality” during the unauthorized protests.
According to the Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) alliance, teargas was used against many of its members of parliament as they sought to enter the president’s office.
“We’ll have a day off tomorrow to regroup and plan.” Demonstrations will resume on Thursday, according to the group.
A minivan was set on fire on a road leading towards the city center, and a Kenyan news station reported that police used tear gas to disperse a small group of protestors in Nairobi’s Mathare area.
Some stores remained closed, and the downtown area was heavily policed. A photographer saw a blazing trailer on a roadway just outside the municipal limits.
Raila Odinga, who lost the presidential election to William Ruto last year, led the main opposition coalition in three days of marches in March to protest increasing living costs and claims of election fraud.
An incident in which a church and a mosque were set on fire in Nairobi’s Kibera neighborhood was described as “ethnically-laced arson” by Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, and the protests as a whole were marked by clashes between police and demonstrators, as well as isolated incidents of violence.
Odinga put off the demonstrations in early April and agreed to meet with Ruto’s representatives. He first said that discussions were going well, but then stated that protests will continue since the government was not negotiating in good faith.
