According to the BBC, police and demonstrators clashed and five people have been killed, the Kenya Medical Association has revealed. Earlier today, part of the Kenyan parliament was on fire after protesters opposed to new tax laws breached the complex where the building sits.

Gunshots and the firing of teargas has been heard all day in Nairobi. BBC reporters also reported seeing bodies on the street, and witnessed police throwing tear gas at protesters. Some MPs reportedly sheltered in the parliament’s basement after they passed a finance bill that seeks to introduce new taxes.

Protests are also taking place in other parts of Kenya, as anger surges over the new measures.

Reuters has noted that:

The choices facing Kenya’s President William Ruto are now far from easy. Elected in 2022 pledging to cut corruption, shore up the country’s faltering economy and help the poor, the embattled Mr Ruto now faces an unprecedented rebellion against his finance bill – legislation he says is an essential part of his plan to build the nation.

It might be easier to know which way to turn if the opposition Mr Ruto faced was confined within parliament. An astute political player, deputy president for almost a decade before being elected to the top spot, Mr Ruto has years of experience wrangling politics to get things done. Now though, the forces massed against him are something truly beyond his control.