Thousands of mostly young protesters took to the streets across Kenya on Thursday to protest tax hikes, whistling and shouting slogans in a strong display of anger from Gen-Z protesters against the government.
Police in the capital Nairobi fired tear gas and water cannons at groups of protesters near parliament, but apart from isolated clashes earlier in the day, the action — dubbed “Occupy Parliament” — remained mostly peaceful.
Led largely by young Kenyans, the protests began in Nairobi on Tuesday before spreading nationwide on Thursday.
They have fueled widespread discontent over President William Ruto’s economic policies in a country already facing a cost-of-living crisis.
Hours after protests on Tuesday in which hundreds of young people clashed with police, the cash-strapped government agreed to make concessions, reversing several of the tax increases set out in a new bill.
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However, the government still intends to push through some tax increases and has defended the proposed levies as necessary to fill its coffers and reduce reliance on foreign borrowing.
On Thursday, protests took place across Kenya, with thousands gathering in Nairobi, the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa, the Rift Valley city of Nakuru and the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, according to AFP reporters and televised images.
Isolated clashes broke out in Nairobi between protesters and police, who fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters gathered near parliament, which began debating the bill on Wednesday.
Despite a heavy police presence and barricades erected along several roads leading to parliament, hundreds of protesters gathered in groups, whistling and bugling, waving placards and chanting: “Ruto must go.”
Ivy, a 26-year-old job seeker dressed in a T-shirt and leggings, told AFP she was prompted to protest for the first time on Thursday because she was “scared” for her future.
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“This bill cannot pass. This bill will finish us off. We have no jobs … we can’t even open businesses, we can’t do anything in this country,” he said.
Another first-time protester, Bella, said she showed up “to make sure the finance bill was defeated.”
The 22-year-old university graduate told AFP she was “not impressed” by the government’s concessions earlier this week.
“He’s lying to us”
The presidency on Tuesday announced the lifting of proposed levies on bread purchases, car ownership and financial and mobile services, prompting the treasury to warn of a 200 billion shilling shortfall as a result of budget cuts.
The government has now aimed to raise fuel prices and export taxes to fill the gap left by the changes, a move critics say will make life more expensive in a country already struggling with high inflation.
“They’re just trying to lie to us, the taxes they’ve taken off their bread they’ve added somewhere else,” Bella said, describing it as a tactic to “blindfold” citizens.
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A parliamentary source told AFP that a vote on the proposals is expected on June 27, three days before the deadline for the bill to pass.
Taxes were expected to raise 346.7 billion shillings ($2.7 billion), equivalent to 1.9 percent of GDP, and reduce the budget deficit from 5.7 percent to 3.3 percent of GDP .
High inflation
The demonstration in Nairobi on Tuesday saw black-clad protesters forced into a cat-and-mouse chase with police who fired volleys of tear gas.
At least 335 people were arrested, according to a consortium of lobby groups including the human rights commission, KNCHR and Amnesty Kenya.
“We have changed tactics. Today we will be wearing colorful and provocative clothes to avoid a repeat of this, arresting everyone in black,” said one march organizer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
Kenya is one of the most dynamic economies in East Africa, but a third of its 51.5 million people live in poverty.
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Headline inflation remained persistently high at an annual rate of 5.1% in May, while food and fuel inflation stood at 6.2% and 7.8% respectively, according to central bank data.
Source: AFP