Kenyan police chief, Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome announced a ban on fresh opposition demonstrations called for Monday, after protests last week degenerated into riots.
According to him, the demonstrations planned for Monday are illegal and will not be allowed, adding that his force was ready to keep the peace and would arrest anyone carrying offensive weapons.
But veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has called for people to take to the streets Monday and Thursday against President William Ruto over the high cost of living, remained defiant.
Last Monday’s unauthorised protests devolved into violence, with riot police firing tear gas and water cannon at people hurling rocks and setting tyres on fire.
According to police, a university student was killed by police fire, and 31 officers were injured in running battles in Nairobi and opposition strongholds in western Kenya.
More than 200 people were arrested, including several senior opposition politicians, while Odinga’s own convoy was hit with tear gas and water cannon.
It was the first major political violence since Ruto took office six months ago after beating Odinga in an election his rival claims were “stolen”.
Many Kenyans are struggling to put food on the table, battling high prices for basic goods, a plunging local currency and a record drought that has left millions hungry.
Ruto, who is leaving the country on Sunday for a trip to Germany and Belgium, has already called on the opposition leader to halt the action.
Last week’s protests proved costly, as Nairobi lost more than half its daily revenue as people kept away from the central business district, the city’s governor Johnson Sakaja said.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said the demonstrations cost the country $15 million.
Ruto tried to position himself as the defender of the oppressed throughout the election campaign and promised to better the lives of common Kenyans, or so-called “hustlers.”
Since then, he has stopped providing subsidies for food staples like maize flour and petrol.
Notwithstanding Ruto’s insistence in January that there would be no increase, Kenya’s energy regulatory authority announced a raise in electricity tariffs effective April 1.
