As tension continues to escalate over the hike in taxes which has resulted in protests, Kenya’s police chief Japhet Koome has resigned.
The same day the police chief resigned five bodies wrapped in sacks were found in an abandoned quarry near an informal settlement after weeks of deadly protests in which more than 30 people were killed.
President Ruto on Friday announced that he had received the resignation of Inspector General Koome and that his deputy Douglas Kanja would be acting.
Ruto had announced on Thursday that he has dismissed almost all of his Cabinet ministers and promised to form a new government that will be lean and efficient.
“Ruto dissolving the cabinet does not mean anything”, a young protester from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology said.
“There is nothing we can do with him. We want new faces. We want new people. We want change and the change begins here and now.”
“Mr William Ruto you have failed the people, you have failed the masses, and all these things are a clear pointer and indication that you need to vacate that office”, said Fred Jiro, a rapid Response officer at Arc Africa, a grassroots human rights group.
Hundreds of young protesters from a Nairobi university blocked a major highway in Kenya protesting against the government and demanding the resignation of President William Ruto.
Kenya has seen weeks of unrest in which protesters stormed into parliament on June 25 after a finance bill was passed that proposed tax increases. More than 30 people died in the protests, which have morphed into calls for the president to resign.
There are allegations regarding the killing of dozens of demonstrators, by the police, which has been fueling the protests.
