Member of Parliament for the Odododiodioo Constituency, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has given a first-hand account of the moment anti-tax protesters in Kenya invaded the National Assembly premises in Nairobi.
Mr. Vanderpuye, who was part of a five-member Ghanaian delegation visiting the Kenyan lawmaking chamber, recounted the chaos led by young Kenyans.
He said the youth decided to “besiege Parliament and prevent the Senators from going ahead with the second reading of the Bill (Finance Bill).”
“The reading went ahead and the Bill was accepted before the protesters arrived in the chamber of the House,” Mr. Vanderpuye noted.
“It was horrible because the youth were virtually now chasing the police. It got to a time the policemen were running away. The youth virtually overran the police, broke Parliament house gates, burnt two police vehicles. They were throwing their own canisters at the policemen. The soldiers came in, the soldiers couldn’t stop them,” he recounted on Accra-based TV3.
On Tuesday, protesters breached Kenya’s parliament and set portions of the House on fire following the Senate’s approval of a controversial tax bill.
President William Ruto announced on Wednesday his decision to reject the bill and send it back to Parliament for reconsideration.
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