But protesters were defiant, repeating calls for Mr Ruto to step down and vowing further action in the streets.

Boniface Mwangi, a prominent social justice activist involved in the protests, called for a “one-million-people march”.

“The arrogance is gone, but the lies are still there,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “Yesterday they unleashed goons and police to kill peaceful protesters. That will not stop us.”

Other members of the protest movement continued to post on social media using the hashtag #tupatanethursday, or “see you on Thursday” in a mix of Swahili and English.

Rigathi Gachagua, the vice-president, asked young people to call off the protests to avoid any further loss of life and destruction of property, and blamed the intelligence services for giving the government poor advice.

“There would have been no mayhem, but they slept on the job,” Mr Gachagua said in a speech, calling on the head of the National Intelligence Service to resign.

In the speech, Mr Ruto warned the withdrawal of the finance bill would also mean a significant shortfall in funding for development programmes designed to help farmers and schoolteachers, among others, as the East African nation struggles to lower its foreign debt burden.

The intensity of the opposition to the tax rises has taken Mr Ruto’s administration by surprise as the largely peaceful rallies turned violent on Tuesday.

During the violence, police fired live rounds into crowds that ransacked the partly ablaze parliament complex.