Kenya’s Supreme Court approved the use of military force to restore order after days of anti-tax protests that at one point overwhelmed the police.
More than 20 people are believed to have been killed in nationwide protests, led largely by young people who oppose the government’s plans to increase taxes.
Armored military vehicles patrolled the streets of the capital, Nairobi, on Thursday, as police fired tear gas to disperse protesters, who threatened to storm the presidential palace.
A judge said the military deployment was critical to protecting government installations, but gave authorities two days to clarify how long the deployment would last, along with its rules of engagement.
“Deploying the military in general without defining its scope of operation and the duration of its operation is a dangerous trend that could lead to the militarization of the country,” Judge Lawrence Mugambi ruled.
The Law Society of Kenya, which petitioned the court to order the army to return to barracks, said it “respects but disagrees” with the decision.
President William Ruto on Wednesday bowed to pressure and said he would withdraw the finance bill containing the unpopular tax proposals, a day after parliament was briefly stormed and set on fire by angry protesters.
Isaac Mwaura, the government spokesperson, told the BBC’s Newsday program that the withdrawal of the bill was a “big blow to the government as it left a “big hole” in the budget.
“It’s really a big setback,” Mwaura said, blaming “ill-informed” Kenyans for opposing it.
“There was a very well choreographed campaign, both locally and internationally, to misinform and misinform people so that they could create an uprising,” he added.
The finance law aimed to raise taxes to help ease the country’s debt burdens, as demanded by creditors including the International Monetary Fund.
Many protesters doubt that the president will implement the austerity measures he announced on Wednesday.
They were also angered by reports of arbitrary kidnappings of protesters and the killing of at least 23 people. Some are now calling for the president to resign.
State agents have been accused of kidnapping hundreds of people linked to the protests.
Kenya’s state-funded National Human Rights Commission said it had helped secure the release of more than 300 people who had been “illegally detained”.
But Mwaura denied this, saying that “criminal elements who wanted a coup d’état” tried to take advantage of the peaceful protests.
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