A new breed of protest has left Kenya’s president tottering

Though Kenya’s equilibrium is occasionally punctured by bouts of political unrest, the country is generally seen as fairly stable, prosperous and liberal. Such cosy assumptions, however, were rudely jolted by tax riots, which reached a deadly peak on June 25th. Overwhelming the police in Nairobi, the capital, protesters broke into Parliament, set fire to a section of it, pinched the mace and forced terrified MPs to flee. The security forces responded with live fire, killing at least 23 people.