🇰🇪 Cholera outbreak surges amid Kenya's flooding crisis

In Kenya's Tana River County, flooding has heightened the risk of cholera, with 44 cases reported, prompting concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases. The World Health Organization and Kenyan authorities are collaborating to address the health challenges exacerbated by the floods nationwide.

Despite the focus on Tana River, where the impact has been severe, over a quarter-million people across Kenya are affected by flooding, with 238 reported deaths. The closure of health facilities and water treatment plants has led to shortages, leaving thousands without access to clean water. Kenya's Health Principal Secretary issued a warning about the looming crisis of waterborne diseases, prompting urgent distribution of water purification supplies in Nairobi.

#Kenya

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🇰🇪 Nairobi residents confront forced evictions amid flood devastation

In Nairobi's Mathare neighborhood, residents face the harsh aftermath of floods followed by government-ordered evictions, leaving homes and livelihoods in ruins.

Amid heavy rainfall, Mathare residents witness their homes demolished, exacerbating the already dire situation.

As President William Ruto mandates school reopening, evicted families are promised $75 for relocation. The government's report reveals over 200 deaths and 200,000 displacements since March due to flash floods, underscoring the urgent need for assistance and solutions in the wake of the devastation.

#Kenya

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🇰🇪🇸🇸 Kenya hosts South Sudan peace talks with African leaders

Kenya spearheaded high-level mediation talks for South Sudan, supported by African presidents, urging an end to the prolonged conflict straining the nation's economy.

Involving rebel opposition groups excluded from the 2018 agreement that concluded the five-year civil war, the talks aim to foster reconciliation and stability. Pagan Amum Okiech, leader of the Real-SPLM group, underscored the need for a shift away from conflict mindsets towards fraternity.

President Ruto emphasized the importance of African-led solutions and recounted President Kiir's poignant appeal for support during the discussions, attended by leaders from Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, and the Central African Republic.

#Kenya #SouthSudan

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🇰🇪 President Ruto will not visit Haiti during US trip: Kenya

Kenya's President William Ruto will not visit Haiti before or after his state visit to the United States on May 23, a senior government official of the East African nation has said.

There had been speculation that Ruto would make a brief trip to Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince after meeting President Joe Biden in Washington DC. Ruto's trip to the US starts on May 20 to 24.

In October 2023, Kenya offered to lead a multi-national security operation in Haiti, which has faced unrest due to a proliferation of armed gangs.

#Kenya

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🇺🇸🇭🇹🇰🇪 Kenya’s President Ruto visits US

Kenyan President William Ruto is on a visit to the United States this week, amid efforts to deepen economic and security cooperation between the two countries, as well as launch a long-stalled police deployment to Haiti.

Ruto, who will hold talks with Biden at the White House on Thursday, is also visiting the US as a United Nations-backed initiative to send a Kenya-led police force to Haiti appears to be solidifying.

🔎 Source
#US #Haiti #Kenya

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇺🇸🇰🇪 US expected to designate Kenya as major non-NATO ally

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to designate Kenya as a major non-NATO ally during a three-day state visit by Kenyan President William Ruto this week, a source familiar with the plans said.

Kenya would be the first sub-Saharan African country to receive the designation, reflecting Washington's drive to deepen relations with the East African nation, which has long also had close relations with Russia and China.

#US #Kenya

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🇰🇪 On the mass unrest in Kenya

Since June 20th, there have been daily protests in Kenya with thousands of people participating.

The reason for the protests was the government's proposal to introduce additional fees on basic goods such as bread, vegetable oil and sugar in order to overcome the budget deficit. These measures caused understandable unrest across the country, as the population is already struggling to make ends meet, and additional taxes will only exacerbate the situation.

▪️On June 20th, protests in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and other major cities gathered thousands of people, against whom the police used tear gas and, as reported, live ammunition. During the suppression of the rallies, 1 protester was killed and another 200 were injured.

Soon after, the parliament decided to revise the budget amendments on June 25th. For this same day, the opposition planned large-scale protests, which are now unfolding and have already resulted in the storming of government buildings.

▪️Meanwhile, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura suspected foreign powers of sponsoring the protests. In the same speech, he mentioned that the current president Ruto could have made statements that displeased other people.

In particular, he reminded of the Kenyan leader's participation in the Ukrainian peace summit in Switzerland. Thus, he indirectly accused the Russian leadership of instigating the protests.

▪️Also, some Western observers note the appearance of the Russian flag at the protests, which does not indicate the presence of instigators from Russia. Recently, the tricolor has become a symbol of protest against the West on the African continent, and in the logic of rallies directed against the government, its appearance is quite appropriate.

🔻The reaction of the Kenyan officials shows how the Western press has influenced the local government. Now all the problems within the country can be conveniently attributed to the cursed Russians, instead of seeing the beam in their own eye. And it's understandable: just the other day, Kenya became the main non-NATO ally of the USA, and the new status obliges a certain politeness on a whole range of foreign policy issues.

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#Africa #Kenya
@rybar

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🇰🇪🇭🇹🇺🇸Kenyan police to arrive in Haiti this week, US State Department says

The first Kenyan police officers assigned to tackle rampant gang violence in Haiti are leaving Kenya on Tuesday and are set to arrive this week, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.

The deployment has been repeatedly delayed by court challenges and a deterioration of security in Haiti, which in March forced former Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign.

Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday held a departure ceremony for 400 officers who will be the first contingent to deploy to Haiti. Another group of around 600 officers will join the first contingent later.

🔎 Source
#Haiti #Kenya #US

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇰🇪⚡️ Kenya president backs down on tax hikes after deadly unrest

Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday withdrew planned tax hikes, bowing to pressure from protesters who had stormed parliament, launched demonstrations across the country and threatened more action this week.

The move will be seen as a major victory for a week-old, youth-led protest movement that grew from online condemnations of tax rises into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul, in the most serious crisis of Ruto's two-year-old presidency.

But some demonstrators said on social media that despite Ruto's climbdown they would go ahead with a rally planned for Thursday, with many reiterating demands that he resign.

Ruto announced he would not sign a finance bill including the tax increases, a day after clashes between police and protesters at the assembly and nationwide left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded, according to medics.

#Kenya

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🇰🇪 Kenyan activists call for more protests as govt pledges austerity

Kenyan activists called for protesters to take to the streets again on Tuesday, with many rejecting appeals from President William Ruto for dialogue following his decision to withdraw proposed tax hikes.
At least 24 people were killed in clashes between protesters and police last week, when parliament was briefly stormed and set ablaze.

The protests, which have been led by young people and organised largely on social media, were initially sparked by a finance bill intended to raise 346 billion Kenyan shillings ($2.69 billion) in taxes.

But the demands of many protesters have escalated over the past two weeks to include calls to root out corruption and for Ruto to step down, presenting the most serious crisis of his two-year-old presidency.

An interview Ruto gave on Sunday evening to Kenyan television networks, in which he mostly defended the actions of the police and his government, seemed to have only hardened the positions of protesters.

On Monday, activists were sharing pamphlets on social media that urged people to occupy the capital Nairobi's Central Business District. Many posted under the hashtag #OccupyCBDTuesday.

The protest movement has no official leadership, and it was not clear to what extent people would respond to these calls after tens of thousands came out last week in some of the country's largest protests in recent memory.

In audio forums on social media, activists have been discussing how to maintain momentum now that the immediate objective of killing the finance bill has been attained.

#Kenya

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🇰🇪Kenyan Police patrol Haitian Capital

The streets of Port-au-Prince were patrolled by Kenyan police officers on Wednesday, equipped with body armour and automatic weapons.

This group, the initial U.N.-supported foreign police unit in Haiti, arrived in the country in June, responding to a plea for assistance to combat escalating gang violence.

Currently, criminal gangs dominate approximately 80% of the capital, leading to over 580,000 individuals being displaced in recent months.

The officers, stationed near the international airport, drew the attention of onlookers but encountered no confrontations with gangs.

#Kenya #UN

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🇰🇪Kenya: President Ruto proposes budget cuts after deadly protests

Kenyan President William Ruto has announced a 177 billion budget cut to seal the budget hole left after the withdrawal of the finance bill. This comes after protests led to the cancellation of contentious tax hikes, which resulted in the deaths of 39 people.

The country erupted into chaos when peaceful demonstrations against high tax rises turned violent. Police fired at crowds that stormed parliament.

Mostly led by young Kenyans, the protests reflected widespread anger over an annual finance bill. Ruto had to scrap the bill, warning of a huge funding gap.

"We will be proposing to the National Assembly a budget cut of not the entire 346, but a budget cut of 177 billion and borrowing the difference (around 169 billion shillings)," said Ruto.

#Kenya

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🇰🇪 What do the IMF and foreign debt have to do with Kenya’s current crisis?

Critics say the IMF provides loans to desperate African countries on stringent terms, disproportionately affecting the poor.

When demonstrators first took to the streets in June to rally against proposed tax hikes, it was not only President William Ruto and members of parliament who came under fire.

For years, multilateral lenders, especially the IMF, have had bad reputations in African countries for providing loans to desperate countries based on stringent conditions that critics said have always disproportionately affected the poor.

African leaders, including Ruto, have also criticised international lenders for what they said are disproportionately high interest rates compared with other developing countries.

In Kenya, that anger is fresh because Ruto’s now-withdrawn tax hikes as well as similar legislation passed in 2023 are both linked to IMF loans as Kenya staggers under the weight of a heavy debt crisis.

#Kenya #IMF

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🇰🇪 Moody's pushes Kenya's rating deeper into junk

Credit ratings agency Moody's cut Kenya's sovereign rating deeper into junk territory on Monday, citing diminished capacity to implement a fiscal consolidation strategy to contain its debt burden.

Moody's downgraded the country's local and foreign-currency long-term issuer ratings and foreign-currency senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B3, while maintaining a 'negative' outlook.

#Kenya

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🇰🇪 Kenyan cult leader faces terrorism charges over mass starvation deaths

The self-proclaimed leader of an evangelical doomsday cult in Kenya has gone on trial in Mombasa, facing charges of terrorism for allegedly inciting more than 400 of his followers to starve themselves to death. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa on Monday, along with 94 co-defendants.

The accused are also facing charges of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, torturing children and cruelty in separate cases. They all pleaded not guilty at a first hearing in January.

Mackenzie, who was arrested in April 2023, is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death in order to "meet Jesus".

The remains of more than 440 people have been unearthed so far in a remote area inland from the coastal town of Malindi, in a case that has been dubbed the "Shakahola forest massacre". Autopsies have found that while starvation appeared to be the main cause of death, some of the victims – including children – were strangled, beaten, or suffocated.

Previous court documents reported that some of the bodies had had their organs removed.

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, founded the Good News International Church in 2003.

He turned himself in on 14 April last year after police, acting on a tip-off, first entered Shakahola forest and found mass graves.

Kenya is a mainly Christian country and President William Ruto has vowed to intervene in homegrown religious movements.

#Kenya

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🇰🇪 Kenya’s Ruto dismisses almost entire cabinet after nationwide protests

The president’s decision comes after weeks of protests forced him to abandon proposed tax hikes.

Kenyan President William Ruto has announced the dismissal of almost his entire cabinet and consultations to form a “broad-based government” following widespread anti-government protests.

Ruto said his decision would apply to all ministers, including the attorney general, but it excluded Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi.

“I will immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations and other Kenyans, both in public and private, with the aim of setting up a broad-based government,” Ruto said in a televised address to the nation on Thursday, adding that he would announce additional measures later.

The East African nation was left reeling after peaceful rallies last month to protest planned steep tax increases flared into deadly violence, with police firing at crowds who stormed the Parliament of Kenya, leaving it partly ablaze.

Led largely by young people, the protests plunged Ruto’s administration into the most serious crisis of his presidency, forcing him to abandon the tax hikes and scramble to contain the damage.

The youth’s dissatisfaction with Ruto began before the controversial tax hikes were proposed.

Since then, economic conditions in Kenya have worsened, leading to growing criticism, particularly on social media, of the government, which has also been accused of “flagrant displays of wealth…alleged incompetence” and racked by scandals,

Protests against the tax hike began in June and widened into a broader campaign against Ruto and his government, with some demonstrations descending into violence that has left dozens dead.

Last week, the Kenyan leader announced sharp cuts to government spending in response to growing anger over his cabinet’s travel and renovation budgets while ordinary citizens struggled to cope with a cost-of-living crisis.

Protests against the tax hike began in June and widened into a broader campaign against Ruto and his government, with some demonstrations descending into violence that has left dozens dead.

Last week, the Kenyan leader announced sharp cuts to government spending in response to growing anger over his cabinet’s travel and renovation budgets while ordinary citizens struggled to cope with a cost-of-living crisis.

#Kenya

@africaintel