Kenyan police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters in the capital Nairobi, amid ongoing anti-tax demonstrations across the country.
Businesses have been closed and transport in the city has been paralyzed, as police battle with protesters.
The youth-led protests are calling on MPs to reject proposed tax increases.
The government, which has rolled back some of the most controversial measures, says new taxes are needed to finance spending programs and reduce the debt burden.
An AFP journalist was quoted as hearing a police officer telling his colleagues to “get the rubber bullets out of the box”.
Police then reportedly began shooting into the air and at the protesters.
Officers have been deployed to protect several key government installations, including parliament.
From the morning, riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters amid clashes with security officers.
There were also huge crowds in many other parts of the country, with local Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation reporting protests in about 30 of the country’s 47 provinces.
Ahead of the demonstrations, lawyers and human rights groups raised concerns about arbitrary arrests and the intimidation of activists during previous protests.
It came amid reports that at least five prominent social media users were kidnapped at dawn, hours before the demonstrations.
The government has defended the taxes as necessary to raise additional revenue to reduce Kenya’s significant debt burden, but last week relented on some demands.
In the wake of public outcry, it scrapped a number of controversial taxes, including proposed taxes on bread, cooking oil and motor vehicle ownership.
But protesters say this is not enough and have called for the bill to be completely withdrawn.
Despite this, majority MPs passed the controversial bill during its second reading and debated its various amendments on Tuesday to remove some clauses that the government considers controversial.
Last week’s protests, which were largely peaceful, left at least two people dead and hundreds of others injured.
Mr Ruto acknowledged the protests and vowed to hold talks to address the concerns of the youth at the forefront of the protests.
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