Nairobi protests escalate: President Ruto promises tough response
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 June 2024
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
People have been killed and injured in Kenya as demonstrators break into parliament in escalating protests over government tax hikes. President Ruto has promised a tough response.
Also in the programme: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange prepares for a court hearing on a remote US island that could lead to his freedom. But the debate continues - was he a hero or villain for leaking classified US documents? And as scientists make progress in attaching living human skin to humanoid robots, we hear about the potential advantages.
(IMAGE: People attend a demonstration against Kenya's proposed finance bill 2024/2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, June 25, 2024 / CREDIT: Reuters / Monicah Mwangi)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to Newsar from the BBC World Service |
| 0:07.2 | coming to live from our studios in Central London I'm Julian Marshall. |
| 0:11.6 | It was only two days ago that the Kenyan President William |
| 0:15.2 | Ruto offered to have a conversation with protesters who last week had taken to the |
| 0:20.7 | streets of the Capitol Nairobi and elsewhere to demonstrate against proposed |
| 0:25.3 | tax increases. But that conversation never happened. The mainly Gen Z protesters are clearly in no mood to compromise and on the day the politicians voted on the new finance bill |
| 0:37.8 | they broke into parliament sending MPs fleeing down a tunnel and set part of the building on fire. Out on the streets, the police |
| 0:47.0 | responded with force using live fire and tear gas. At least five people are reported have been shot there |
| 0:58.0 | than many more injured. A medic who had been tending to the wounded said he'd received some serious injuries. |
| 1:05.0 | I've actually received close to 30 to 40 patients. |
| 1:11.0 | Those who are seriously injured have been around 9 to 10. |
| 1:17.0 | Seriously injured with broken legs, some who have been short on their thighs, some who have |
| 1:21.7 | been short on their ties, some who have been shot on the head, slightly the bullet |
| 1:25.8 | passing through. |
| 1:27.7 | And the government is clearly sensitive about the dissemination of images from the streets |
| 1:31.8 | of Nairobi, the private news network, K. of that we have received threats from authorities of intention to shut us down. |
| 1:46.0 | We would like to inform the public of our commitment to defend the public interest |
| 1:51.0 | and we shall not be cowed by any threats. |
| 1:55.0 | Within the past couple of hours President Ruto has addressed the nation |
| 2:00.0 | promising to take action to restore order. |
| 2:03.0 | Today, Kenya experienced an unprecedented attack on its democracy, rule of law, |
| 2:11.0 | and the integrity of its constitutional institutions. |
... |
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