(Bloomberg) -- A court overturned an order by Kenya’s police prohibiting anti-government protesters from demonstrating in the capital, Nairobi.
Acting Police Inspector-General Douglas Kanja in a statement on Wednesday said, “no demonstrations will be permitted in the Nairobi central business district and its surroundings until further notice to ensure public safety.”
In the statement on X, Kanja said organized criminal groups plan to take advantage of the marches to carry out attacks and loot property, and pose a threat to security. The lack of designated leadership of the protests has also made it difficult to enforce safety protocols, he said.
Political activists in the East African nation have called for demonstrations to take place every Tuesday and Thursday.
Protests erupted in Kenya in mid-June calling for the government to halt planned tax increases and address widespread state corruption. While President William Ruto has rescinded the proposed revenue-raising measures, sacked almost his entire cabinet and signaled that he will pivot to a government that may include members of opposition parties, the demonstrations have continued, with calls for Ruto to step down.
‘Passionate Appeal’
Negotiations called for by Ruto with opposition parties, civil society groups and labor unions on ways to end the protests have yet to materialize.
Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said details on the talks will be released in coming days. “Our opponents have their supporters and they need to first talk among themselves, even as the government side also prepares. You will hear more on this,” he said at a press briefing Thursday.
He also said protracted protest action will have a negative impact on revenue collection. Already the nation has 220 billion shillings ($1.69 billion) of expenditure carried over from the just-ended fiscal year, he said.
The nation has lost 6 billion shillings in the month of picketing, Mwaura said. The government was making a “passionate appeal to our country folk of the Generation Z to reconsider their plans to uphold the demonstrations which have since been infiltrated by goons whose aim is to destabilize the country’s peace.”
At least 53 people have died in the demonstrations and more than 400 others injured.
--With assistance from Robert Brand.
(Updates with court order suspending the ban in first paragraph)
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