As protests over an impending tax hike sparked a deadly military response in Kenya, President Barack Obama’s half-sister, Auma Obama, was teargassed live on air in the capital.
It happened during an interview with CNN on Tuesday, as she was speaking with correspondent Larry Madowo about the need to listen to the concerns of the mostly young protesters.
BREAKING: Auma Obama is tear-gassed by Kenya police live on CNN as she joins peaceful protests against over-taxation pic.twitter.com/XLpsvLlDyz
— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) June 25, 2024
“I’m here because, look at what’s happening,” Obama told Madowo when asked what had brought her to the streets of Nairobi. “Young Kenyans are demonstrating for their rights. They are demonstrating with flags and banners.”
Her words were interspersed with bangs in the distance. She then started coughing.
“We are being teargassed. We are being teargassed,” the Kenyan-British activist gasped as a misty gray cloud enveloped her and the group of protesters she was with.
“I can’t believe that these are people just trying to demonstrate for their rights,” Obama said when she could speak again. “Listen to them! Listen to those children! They are 80% of our population!”
The protesters, whom Madowo described as “mostly Gen Z,” are pushing back against strict financial measures being imposed even as prices soar for basic necessities such as food and fuel. They are largely the same base who voted President William Ruto into power on promises of economic relief but who feel betrayed, especially given the backdrop of state corruption and growing inequality.
Elsewhere in the capital, that rage boiled over as some demonstrators set fire to the Parliament building after legislators passed the financial bill. The lawmakers fled through a tunnel, and the flames were put out.
Police opened fire, shooting at least five people dead, according to the Kenya Medical Association and other groups. More than 30 people were wounded, with live bullets striking 13 of them, the groups said in a joint statement.
Ruto, who was not in the country on Tuesday, has two weeks to sign the bill into law.
President Barack Obama had not commented about the incident as of Tuesday afternoon.
With News Wire Services
