Kenya interior minister accuses protesters of plotting coup as unrest turns deadly

Kenya’s Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen accused protesters on Thursday of attempting to overthrow the government during a day of deadly demonstrations, remarks that protest leaders said were an attempt to deflect attention from their demands.

Murkomen said at least 10 people had been killed in the previous day’s unrest, when youth-led demonstrations were followed by looting and arson in Nairobi and other cities. The rights group Amnesty Kenya said at least 16 people were killed, all by gunshots, which it said were suspected to have been fired by police.

Smoke was billowing from at least 10 torched buildings on Thursday in central Nairobi, where shopkeepers were cleaning up the charred wreckage of the overnight unrest.

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Thousands of Kenyans participated in Wednesday’s demonstrations, initially called to mark the anniversary of anti-government protests last year, and amplified by public anger over the death this month of a blogger in police custody.

Murkomen told a press briefing that the protesters were trying to enact “regime change”, and said police had been forced to hold back large crowds who sought to approach parliament and State House, the president’s residence.

“Criminal anarchists” had “unleashed a wave of violence, looting, sexual assault and destruction upon our people,” Murkomen said.

Boniface Mwangi, one of the prominent figures in the protest movement, told Reuters: “The branding of yesterday’s protests as a coup is the government’s attempt to shift attention from the real issue.”

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Ibrahim Hamisi, owner of one of the burnt-out buildings in central Nairobi, said the government and the protesters, informally known in Kenya as Gen Z, needed to open dialogue.

“Look: everything they burnt. So please government, try talking to the Gen Z,” he said. “So, the Gen Z, try to sit down and talk with the government.”

Josephine Apondi, among shopkeepers cleaning up, said “thugs” had looted two million shillings ($15,500) worth of phones and electronics from her shop.

The demonstrations were called to mark the anniversary of anti-tax protests a year ago, when more than 60 people were killed.

They also follow weeks of fresh demonstrations in response to the death of blogger Albert Ojwang, 31, jailed as part of a police response to a complaint filed by the deputy national police chief, Eliud Lagat.

Prosecutors have approved murder charges against six people, including three police officers, over Ojwang’s death. All six have pleaded not guilty. Reuters has been unable to reach Lagat for comment.