Who is behind the violence in Kenya? | news

When Kenyan President William Roto took office in 2022, he pledged to put an end to the violence of the police forces, and after 3 years he instructed the security forces to shoot the violent demonstrators “in their legs.”

Last year, East Africa, Kenya, witnessed demonstrations initially in protest against the economic recession and corruption, and then expanded to include police violence, the chronic problem in the country with a population of 55 million.

These protests were met with violent repression according to human rights organizations, killing dozens.

The Kenyan authorities justified their violent response to the acts of violence and looting witnessed by the demonstrations, while human rights organizations say that these disturbances are packed agents working alongside the police to stir up chaos.

And in 2023 a year after a reputable police unit dissolved, Roto said, “I made a promise during my election campaign that he stopped killings outside the law.”

“No mother or Kenyan citizen will not die in circumstances that the government cannot explain,” he added.

New hostile tone

Such statements – according to human rights organizations – seem far away, as the president has taken a more hostile dialect, which is systematically supporting the police behavior.

More than 100 people have been killed since the outbreak of anti -government demonstrations in June 2024 – according to human rights groups – including 38 people who were killed in the last demonstration on July 7.

Roto announced that those behind the protests are trying to “overthrow the government” and that any attack on a policeman or police station is a “declaration of war.”

Two days after the July 7 demonstration, the president said that the violent demonstrators should be shot “in their legs.”

“The president lost his right”

To Roto’s comments were angry in some popular circles.

The Kenyan newspaper “The Standard” wrote with its opening, “The President lost his right”, while it came on its first page, “Kenya is slipping towards tyranny.”

“Whether he orders the police to shoot on the leg or anywhere else. Let’s take things as they are,” said Osino Namaya, Human Rights Watch.

“It is a fire for the purpose of killing,” said the researcher at the human rights organization.

Caroti Canning, a political analyst at Nairobi University, said that the government repression of the protests reminded him of the 1990s when Kenya lived years under authoritarian rule for the then President Daniel Arab Moy.

He added that Roto was a “student” of the former president, as he started his political career in the Moy Party Youth Association.

He also said, “We are on the edge of the abyss, and a high possibility to enter into a period of violence, such as those that followed the 2007 elections.”

“I think he is preparing to move to a more assertive and suppressed stage in his regime,” he said.

The kidnappings – common since the Moy’s era – have increased sharply since the protests began, according to several human rights organizations estimated at more than 80 kidnappings last year and dozens are still missing.

The president initially stated that he had not caused kidnappings.

But he later promised to end the disappearances and ensure “all the kidnappers return to their families.” But some families are still looking for their loved ones.

A handful of rogue

The tone of those around the president also intensified. “We ordered the fire forces to open fire on everyone who approaches one of its centers,” Interior Minister Kibchamba Morkomin said in front of a crowd on June 26.

He later claimed that these statements reported by television were removed from its context.

He was also depicted by the head of the Government Defense Committee calling for “shooting for the purpose of killing” during the gatherings.

For his part, Christopher Sika, the Vice -President of the President, during the weekend, denied the hints that Roto had supported such orders.

“Simply says that if you burn a police station or destroy general infrastructure, you will be arrested,” Aseca said in front of a crowd.

Parts of Nairobi’s sub -looting and sabotage during the June and July protests, with the Ministry of Interior announced the injury of hundreds of policemen.

“The country cannot remain hostage to a handful of rogue,” he added.

Dictatorship in every sense of the word

The protests supporting democracy last week were suppressed by the 1990’s 1990 uprising, which demanded the return of pluralism after years of authoritarian rule, with a heavy deployment of the police forces.

Human rights groups reported the killing of at least 38 demonstrators, while the government says only 17 people have died.

Protests also erupted in June against the background of the death of Albert Oujuang, who died during his detention, and organized demonstrations in Nairobi to protest against the “brutality” of the police.

For its part, the United Nations condemned the use of the Kenyan authorities for power.

A government spokesman said that Roto’s comments last week “clarify the context” without answering any additional questions.

“Roto defended the police without uttering a single word about the victims,” Khaled of Focal said.

“The force is used to silence the opposition. It is the dictatorship in the full sense of the word,” he added.