Kenya’s President William Ruto said on Wednesday that a controversial tax hike bill would “be withdrawn”, but the measure was withdrawn after more than 20 people were killed in clashes with police and parliament was vandalised by protesters opposing the bill.
The initially peaceful protests began last week over the 2024 Finance Bill – which politicians passed on Tuesday afternoon – and the Ruto administration was taken by surprise when rallies across the country began to gather momentum.
But the Gen-Z-led protests descended into violence on Tuesday when police opened fire on a crowd outside parliament, leaving the complex vandalised and partially set on fire.
The state-funded human rights watchdog said 19 people were killed in the capital, Nairobi.
“I admit my point and so I will not sign the 2024 Finance Bill and it will be withdrawn later,” Ruto said at a press briefing. “The people have spoken.” He added, “The people have spoken.”
“I would like to propose a dialogue with the youth of our country, our sons and daughters, so that we can listen to them,” he said, a departure from his address late Tuesday in which he compared some protesters to “criminals.”
“We can’t kill everyone”
Shortly after his speech, prominent protester Hanifa Adan dismissed Ruto’s announcement as “PR”.
“They gave this speech to scare us and they saw it wouldn’t work, so they did the PR,” he said on X, referring to his comments the previous night.
“The bill has been withdrawn but will you bring back all the dead alive?”
Before Ruto’s move, protesters had called for rallies again on Thursday.
Aden said, “Tomorrow we will again wear white uniforms and march peacefully for all our martyrs.”
“You can’t kill us all.”
Protesters shared “Tupatane Thursday” (“We meet on Thursday” in Swahili) on social media with the hashtag #Rejectfinancebill2024.
cost of living crisis
Ruto came to power promising to meet the needs of poor Kenyans in 2022, but tax hikes under his government have made life more difficult for people already struggling with high inflation.
The Kenyan leader only last week rolled back some tax measures, leading the treasury to warn of a massive budget deficit of up to 200 billion shillings.
Ruto on Wednesday said withdrawing the bill would mean there would be a loss of funds for development programmes to help farmers and school teachers, among others.
The cash-strapped government had previously said the hike was needed to pay off Kenya’s massive debt of about 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), equivalent to about 70 percent of gross domestic product.
Fatal day
Earlier on Wednesday, Roselyn Odede, chairperson of the state-funded Kenya National Human Rights Commission, said “we have recorded 22 deaths, 19 of which occurred in Nairobi,” adding they would launch an investigation.
“This is the biggest number of deaths in a single day of protests,” he said, adding that 300 people were injured across the country.
Simon Kigondu, president of the Kenya Medical Association, said he had never seen “this level of violence against unarmed people” before.
An official at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi said on Wednesday that doctors were “treating 160 people… some of them have soft tissue injuries, while some have gunshot wounds.”
Human rights monitors have also accused authorities of kidnapping protesters.
Police have not responded to AFP’s requests for comment.
‘Madness’
Heavy police presence was expected around parliament early on Wednesday, with the smell of tear gas still in the air and dried blood scattered on the ground, according to an AFP correspondent.
A policeman standing in front of broken barricades at the complex told AFP he had seen the scene on TV.
“It was crazy, we hope the situation will calm down today,” he said.
In the central business district, where the protests were concentrated, merchants surveyed the damage.
“They left nothing, just boxes. I don’t know how long it will take me to recover from this,” James Nganga, whose electronics shop was looted, told AFP.
The unrest has concerned the international community, and Washington on Wednesday called on Kenya to respect the right to peaceful protest.
The Ruto administration is under pressure from the IMF, which has urged the country to implement fiscal reforms to receive funding.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)