Kenyan youths, police clash in fresh protest seeking Ruto’s resignation  

 

Kenya’s security officials put up roadblocks and fire tear gas and rubber bullets in Nairobi as protesters gather in the capital.

 

Developments come a day after President Ruto made a dramatic U-turn and withdrew contentious tax hikes.

 

President Ruto announced in a televised address on Wednesday that he would not sign the finance bill to law.

 

Ruto wrote in a document addressed to the speaker of the National Assembly that the bill will now be returned to Parliament with the recommendation that all its clauses be deleted.

 

To help tackle the fiscal deficit, the president said the government will implement austerity measures, beginning with cuts to the presidency’s budget.

 

Before the bill was withdrawn, the Finance Ministry said concessions on tax hikes would blow a 200-billion-Kenyan-shillings ($1.55bn) hole in the 2024-25 budget and necessitate spending cuts.

 

But the protesters have continued with their march on the streets, demanding that President Ruto resign. 

 

In several videos monitored on international news channels, the police and military were seen firing rubber bullets and teargas at the protesters who seemed undeterred.