Five Ghanaian parliamentarians who are members of the local government committee have been caught up in the recent protest in Nairobi, Kenya, where at least five people were killed after Kenyan police fired live rounds at demonstrators on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, as outrage swelled against a controversial finance bill that has sparked widespread protests.
The members of Parliament are Emmanuel Gyamfi, the chairman of the local government committee, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, Thomas Ampem, Sylvester Tetteh, and Mohammed Tuferu. In a video shot by one of the Ghanaian MPs, members of the Kenyan assembly and the MPs from Ghana were seen being evacuated to an underground facility within the Kenyan Parliament building.
At least five people were killed and 31 injured in protests in Kenya, according to a joint statement released by several human rights groups, including Amnesty International Kenya, the Kenya Medical Association, the Law Society of Kenya, and the Police Reforms Working Group Kenya.
“Despite the assurance by the government that the right to assembly would be protected and facilitated, today’s protests have spiraled into violence. Human rights observers and medical officers have reported several incidents of human rights violations,” the statement read.
According to the statement, at least five people were shot dead. At least 31 people have been injured, with 13 of these people shot with live bullets, four with rubber bullets, and three hit with launcher canisters.
Kenyan President William Ruto, in a televised address to the nation, said the security of families and property is his utmost priority as ongoing violent protests continue in the country.
“As the people of Kenya go to bed, I give you my assurance that your security, that of your families and property, remains my utmost priority,” he said in the address to the nation.
He called the protests an “unprecedented attack on the integrity of institutions and otherwise legitimate expression of the fundamental rights and freedoms of assembly, demonstration, picketing, and petitioning of public authorities, by a section of law-abiding citizens.”
Ruto said Kenya was “infiltrated and hijacked by a group of organized criminals.”
“It is not in order, or even conceivable, that criminals pretending to be peaceful protesters can reign terror against the people, their elected representatives, and the institutions established under our constitution and expect to go scot-free,” the president said.
Ruto told Kenyans that his government would “provide a full, effective, and expeditious response to today’s treasonous events.”
Source: Asaaseradio.com
