Police opened fire on protesters who storms Kenya’s parliament on Tuesday, at least five protesters killed, dozens wounded and sections of the parliament building set ablaze.
Live footage on local television showed smoke coming from inside the complex.
There have been reports of people being wounded as police fired rounds to disperse the crowds.
A Reuters journalist counted the bodies of at least five protesters outside parliament. A paramedic, Vivian Achista, said at least 10 had been shot dead.
Another paramedic, Richard Ngumo, said more than 50 people had been wounded by gunfire. He was lifting two injured protesters into an ambulance outside parliament.
“We want to shut down parliament and every MP should go down and resign,” protestor Davis Tafari, who was trying to enter parliament, told Reuters. “We will have a new government.”
Thousands of protesters have been engaged in running battles with the police, with security officers firing rubber bullets and teargas to break up the crowds.
There have been also been protests in other cities and towns around the country.
Businesses have been shut and transport has been paralysed.
The protests came just as MPs passed a controversial finance bill that introduced unpopular taxes.
The youth-led protesters called on MPs to reject the proposed tax increases.
The government, which has rowed back on some of the most controversial measures, says new taxes are needed to fund spending programmes and lessen the debt burden.
Earlier, an AFP journalist was quoted as hearing a police officer tell his colleagues to ” get the rubber bullets from the box”.
The police then reportedly started firing in the air and at the protesters.
Officers were deployed to protect key government installations, including parliament. However, protesters managed to enter the complex.
