NAIROBI - Hundreds of demonstrators torched 221 coffins outside Kenya's parliament on Wednesday in protest at legislators who voted last week to triple their end-of-term bonuses and award themselves state funerals.
President Mwai Kibaki, aware of popular resentment over lawmakers' perks and with an eye on a March 4 general election, subsequently refused to sign the benefit increase into law.
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console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }But Kenyans went ahead with the protest march anyway to highlight their anger over a political class in East Africa's largest economy widely regarded as greedy and corrupt.
They staged a macabre procession through central Nairobi, wailing and singing as they hoisted coffins made of plywood and tarred in black paint, representing Kenyan lawmakers.