Police in Kenya hurled tear gas canisters on Tuesday to break up protests in Nairobi and several other towns and cities accusing the president of poor governance and demanding his resignation, despite his dismissal of nearly the entire Cabinet last week.
Businesses in Nairobi remained closed for fear of a repeat of the looting that occurred during the demonstrations the last week, when protesters stormed Parliament and several were killed by police.
Demonstrators blocked major roads including the highway to Namanga on the outskirts of Nairobi, where they lit bonfires on Tuesday morning. Demonstrations were also reported in the towns of Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret.
The protests came five days after President William Ruto dismissed all but one Cabinet minister and promised to form a broad-based, lean and efficient government in response to the protesters’ demands.
