Kenya police have fired tear gas to scatter protesters who tried to occupy a church, which recently received a significant donation from President William Ruto.
The gift of the Jesus Ministry of Jesus in the Rosetabu suburbs in Nairobi of $ 20 million ($ 155,000; 120,000 British pounds) has caused criticism from some young Kenyans who are fighting the high cost of life.
Ruto defended his donation and offered a similar gift to another church in Eldoret.
Last year, both the Catholic and Anglican leaders in Kenya rejected donations, arguing that it was necessary to protect the church from use for political purposes.
Several people were arrested during clashes where protesters were trying to enter the church and light fires and use rocks to block nearby roads.
But the church service continued forward with strict security for worshipers, a report by local media.
Bishop Edward May said that unnamed people had mobilized “thugs” to break the church service, Star's website reports.
Ruto, an evangelical Christian, defended the donation, stating that it was an attempt to deal with the moral disintegration of the country.
“Kenya must know God so that we are ashamed of the people who tell us that we cannot connect with the church,” the national site quotes him that he says in another church, in Eldoret.
The Kenyans were angry with a series of tax promotions introduced after the election of Ruto in 2022.
He says they were needed to pay the huge debts he inherited from the previous government, but many Kenyans claim that he must first deal with public waste and corruption.
Last year, a wave of national protests forced Ruto to withdraw its funding bill, which contains a series of tax promotions.