Four people died and more than 30 others were injured when police clashed with protesters in Kenya’s capital as a nationwide public transport strike kicked off in protest at record fuel prices.
Interior minister Kipchumba Murkomen also said 348 people were arrested and would be charged over their involvement in what he called violent illegal protests.
He did not say how the four people were killed, but witnesses told local media that police in Nairobi had opened fire.
Commuters were stranded in many suburbs and the city centre was deserted as protesters burned tyres on major roads and attacked motorists, setting at least two vehicles on fire.
Kenya’s fuel prices hit a record high on Friday, with the diesel price increasing by 23.5% and petrol by 8%.
The government attributed the previous price increase to the Iran war and its effects on energy supplies, but it reduced taxes to lessen the shock for consumers.
President William Ruto, who has been out of the country, did not comment on the new increase or the protests.
The Kenya national chamber of commerce and industry said on Friday that the increased prices would affect all commodities and services.
It also noted that Kenya’s price hike from April to May was much higher than the rise in global oil prices.
“This points to the continued role of domestic cost build-up,” it said.
Former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, who joined the opposition after his impeachment in October 2024 over corruption allegations, blamed the sharp rise on corrupt businesspeople who wanted to increase profit margins.
He compared Kenya’s fuel prices to those in neighbouring landlocked countries that relied on Kenyan ports for importation of fuel, such as Uganda, where prices were lower.