NAIROBI — Kenyan police have fired tear gas in the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa to disperse anti-government protests.

In both city centers, many businesses have remained closed. Demonstrators have also taken to the streets of other cities including Kisumu.

Human rights groups say since the protests against a controversial finance bill began two weeks ago 39 people have been killed by security forces.

President William Ruto has since dropped the proposed tax increases - but the demonstrations have morphed into calls for him to resign and anger over police brutality.

Cars can be seen burning amid chaotic scenes in Mombasa as protesters clash with police.

The clashes in Nairobi have forced magistrates to put off hearings at a court in the city, the Daily Nation newspaper reports.

Some shop owners in the central business areas of Nairobi and Mombasa have hired vigilantes who are patrolling with clubs to guard against looting.

Astin Kibowen, 21, who is guarding the music shop where he works in Nairobi, told the BBC he wanted the president "to listen to our cries, to our voices".

Since President Ruto came to power two years ago promising to revitalize the economy, Kenyans have been hit by a cost-of-living crisis with more taxes on salaries, fuel and on gross sales.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) says most protesters were killed last Tuesday when MPs voted to pass the bill.

Seventeen people had died in Nairobi and 22 others killed in other parts of the country, it said in a statement on Monday evening.

There had also been 361 injuries, 32 cases of "enforced or involuntary disappearances" and 627 arrests, it said.

Amnesty International says 24 protesters died in the protests. Earlier, the police put the death toll at 19.

An artist has told the BBC she intends to capture the demonstrations as they happen in Nairobi.

"We are mourning the children killed by police. As others chant, I'm doing art. I saw a flag was laid on this man when he was shot last week," Linda Indakwa, 29, said as she pointed one an artwork where she had set up in a street in the city center. — BBC