Kenyan tax hike protests lead to anti-presidential protest

Nothing seems to stop the Kenyan protesters. This Tuesday, for the second week in a row, they took to the streets of the African country, despite the fact that President William Ruto had already suspended, last week, the tax increase that sparked the protests. Now, the protest has gone from demanding the suspension of this bill to becoming a mobilization against the violence of the demonstrations – 39 people have died, according to the NGO Kenya Human Rights Commission, including a 12-year-old boy – as well as opposing the high cost of living, the precarious situation of young people, corruption and the ostentation of certain politicians. “This goes beyond rejecting the bill. It is about ending, in some way, the old regime. We need a new political culture in Kenya,” sums up Maxwell Magadi, a 29-year-old Kenyan student leader, over the phone.

The tone of Tuesday’s protests began to call for the resignation of Ruto, who came to power in August 2022. Hundreds of people took part in demonstrations in Nairobi, as in other cities, according to local media estimates. In the capital, riot police fired tear gas again, Reuters reports. Mary (who asks not to use her real name), a 24-year-old Kenyan woman, took part in last week’s marches, but will not do so these days due to the “unnecessary violence” she saw the police use. “I only had my lip balm, a bottle of water and the Kenyan flag in my bag,” she says in a telephone conversation. “Like the rest of the protesters around me, I was not violent. But the police shot at us.” Today, “traumatized”, she confesses that when she hears new shots from home in the demonstrations, she has to hide under the bed.

President Ruto’s appearance on Wednesday, in which he said he had “listened carefully to the people of Kenya” to justify the suspension of the Finance Bill, has not calmed things down. Neither has his offer to dialogue with young people through platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), given that Generation Z, coordinated through social networks, is having a special role in these mobilizations. “He doesn’t sound sorry for the deaths of protesters,” says John (not his real name for security reasons), a 31-year-old businessman. He participated in last week’s marches in Nairobi, motivated by the rise in fuel or electricity prices. “The tax increase would have made my life even more difficult,” he says. “The suspension of taxes would have made my life even more difficult.” [del proyecto de ley] “It is a small victory, but there is still much to do.” The first thing, he says, is for Kenya to “move away from the past” to end the “grand corruption” that each government inherits.

Magadi, a student leader, also does not believe that the current government has shown enough remorse and goodwill towards the protesters. “Ruto asks us to talk, but people continue to be kidnapped and tortured,” he says. International Amnesty has denounced the “enforced disappearance” of at least 12 people involved in the protests, and some 360 ​​people have been seriously injured across the country, according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission. According to the BBCit is actually 35 arrests “orchestrated by a police intelligence unit” and the whereabouts of 10 of those arrested are unknown. The released protesters have been “traumatized” by the interrogations and treatment by the security forces, according to the British media. Mercy, another 24-year-old protester (who also asks not to be identified), says about Ruto, through WhatsApp messages: “I don’t think he has our interests as a priority. He has called us criminals, and he is more concerned about material losses than human losses.”

Kenya’s main opposition party, the Orange Democratic Movement, on Tuesday accused President Ruto of having “blood on his hands” for his handling of the protests.

Prices skyrocketing

Kenya, like other African countries, suffers from inequality exacerbated by inflation and the effects of the climate emergency, with long droughts and floods such as those that occurred last May. The cost of living for Kenyans It does not stop growing. According to National Statistics Officeconsumer prices for products such as spinach have risen by 18.2% in one year, and tomatoes by 14%; while electricity has grown by almost 7% and coal by 3.5%. In these circumstances, the African Development Bank warned in February of the possibility of “social unrest” in several African countries.

“They are killing Kenya’s future,” says Faith (not her real name), 18, who has been taking part in the Nairobi protests in recent days. “We have seen how the government, despite the already high taxes they collected in the 2023/2024 financial year, has done nothing for the taxpayer. It has come [tras las elecciones de 2022] “They promise a better future for the poor, but they take from us without taking us into account, to line their own pockets,” he complains by telephone. Several local media outlets are reporting these days that ministers and senators will receive a pay rise this month, in some cases reaching 990,000 Kenyan shillings per month (more than 7,100 euros). The majority of citizens earn less than 50,000 shillings (360 euros).

Faith, like other young people interviewed, believes that education, healthcare and political representation are the key issues that will determine Kenya’s future. “With over 80% of the population under 35, it is unfair and unrealistic to allow the education sector to fail,” she says. Most of her acquaintances cannot afford to attend university because of the costs. Faith wants Kenya to have “honest and respectful leaders who involve people in decision-making – especially critical ones like the finance bill – who do not misuse taxpayers’ money and without outrageous payrolls.”

The Kenyan government’s controversial finance bill, now withdrawn, was passed through parliament in early May and included a sweeping tax hike, including a 5% increase in fees on bank transfers and mobile phone payments, a 16% increase in the tax on bread and a 25% increase on vegetable oil, an additional 2.75% charge on employees enrolled in the national health insurance scheme and a 2.5% annual tax on motor vehicles. The bill also gave the government carte blanche to seize bank and mobile money accounts to force payment of such taxes.

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