Governor of Migori County, Ochillo Ayacko, has condemned Kenyan police for using brute force against anti-Finance Bill protesters, shooting them on their backs even as they flee. 

“It is sad that these young people were shot. About all of them, the seven who were brought here were shot from the back,” Mr Ayacko, who visited protesters with gunshot injuries in the hospital, said in a video published by Standard Kenyan on Friday. “That means they were running away from those who shot them.

“Condemning Kenyan police’s unprofessional brutal clampdown on citizens, Mr Ayacko said, “When you shoot somebody who is running away, that does not look tidy. When a person is fleeing, the only thing that should be done is to arrest the person.” 

A survivor who spoke with Mr Ayacko during his hospital visit said the bullet hit him on the butt as he tried to rescue someone shot beside him. 

Footages of protesters with gunshot injuries and those killed by Kenyan police have flooded the internet since Tuesday night. 

About 25 deaths have been recorded so far since the protest turned bloody due to police use of lethal weapons to quell demonstrations. 

The governor’s criticism of Kenyan police for their unprofessional and brutal conduct in quelling the anti-Finance Bill protest contradicts President William Ruto’s silence on the issue.

Mr Ruto, in a live broadcast on Wednesday, labelled anti-tax protests “treasonous events.” He later announced the withdrawal of the controversial bill but spared no words for those killed or injured as police unleashed mayhem on protesters. 

Human rights organisation Amnesty International, in a statement, condemned Mr Ruto for inciting security operatives against citizens by saying the anti-tax protest was “treasonous,” calling for his trial at the International Criminal Court. 

On Friday, a Kenyan Federal High Court barred the Kenyan national police service from killing, abducting, harassing and detaining anti-Finance Bill protesters following a petition filed by Saitabao Ole Kanchory.