Four killed, 30 injured in Kenyan fuel price protests

Tuesday May 19, 2026

Kenya was gripped by unrest on Monday as anti-riot police confronted protesters along Namanga Road in Kitengela during a nationwide transport strike driven by surging fuel prices [AFP]

At least four people were killed and 30 others wounded in Kenya on Monday as protests erupted across the country over steep fuel price increases.

Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said 348 people were detained during the unrest, as crowds took to the streets in support of a nationwide public transport strike.

With memories still fresh of protests over the past two years that pushed dangerously close to spiralling out of control despite heavy-handed crackdowns that left dozens dead, the government is likely to remain on edge.

“We lost four Kenyans in today’s ⁠violence, which also ⁠saw more than 30 ⁠people injured,” Murkomen said during a televised press conference.

In Nairobi, streets leading into the city centre were largely empty on Monday after police used tear gas on protesters who had responded with stones and blocked major roads with burning tyres, Al Jazeera’s Malcom Webb reported from the Kenyan capital.

The strike disrupted life in major urban centres, including Nairobi and the southern port city of Mombasa, where public transport is essential for many residents. In a number of towns, commuters were forced to walk long distances to reach work and school.

Transport unions want the government to roll back a recent jump in fuel prices. Kenya raised retail fuel prices by as much as 23.5 percent last week, after a 24.2 percent increase the month before.

The higher cost of fuel is now feeding through to food and other basic commodities, adding pressure to households already stretched by the weak economy.

“This demonstration has brought the city to a near standstill,” Webb said. “It started with the private bus operators, which provide most transport for hundreds of thousands of people commuting every day.”

The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum defended the price increase, saying it was made amid persistent turbulence in global oil markets caused by the war in Iran.

Kenya, like many African nations that depend on fuel imports from the Gulf, has been hit hard by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the route through which a fifth of the world’s oil shipments usually pass.

Murkomen said most of the East African country remained calm, but he alleged that “criminal elements” had been brought in to attack government and private property. He also claimed the demonstrations had “been hijacked by political actors for political ends”.

Opposition figure Rigathi Gachagua, meanwhile, accused President William Ruto and his business associates of exploiting Kenyans and manipulating prices to widen profit margins.

“That message resonated with people frustrated, people who live hand to mouth, who have had to put up with a 25 percent increase last month and the same again announced last week. This is crippling for people trying to get by and for those in the transport business,” Webb said.

Condemnation of the deaths came quickly. Kenyan rights group Vocal Africa said on social media that it “strongly condemns the use of lethal force by law enforcement that has tragically claimed the lives of four citizens during fuel protests”.

Protests in Kenya have grown more violent in recent years. Last year, several people were killed as police and vigilantes clashed with young demonstrators who took to the streets over a range of grievances, including police brutality, government corruption and high taxes.

In June 2024, police fired on large crowds protesting tax increases, killing at least 60 people, according to rights groups.