One reason why the anti-Finance Bill demonstrators got a lot of popular support last week was that they were clearly peaceful and there was no looting.
Now we risk a vicious circle as the government becomes more repressive and the demonstrators become more violent. This can lead to more destruction and more deaths.
On Tuesday, around 13 protestors were killed by police firing live bullets and various influencers were abducted. The protestors invaded the national Parliament building in Nairobi, looted shops in the CBD, and burned vehicles and buildings across the country.
Both the state and anti-Finance Bill protestors need to cool down or we can drift into a state of anarchy.
For its part, the government needs to adopt a 'softly softly' approach, stop firing live bullets, and meet with the protestors to hear their concerns.
However the protestors also need to moderate their demands. They should stop calling for a change of government – that happens every five years in democratic elections. And, above all, they need to weed out the infiltrators responsible for the burning and looting so we return to the peaceful demos of last week that garnered so much praise.
Quote of the day: “So long as we learn it doesn’t matter who teaches us, does it?”
E. R. Braithwaite
The Guyanese novelist was born on June 27, 1912
