Kenya’s Ruto withdraws controversial tax bill as protests escalate

NAIROBI — Kenya’s President William Ruto on Wednesday withdrew a controversial finance bill that contained unpopular tax hikes following pressure from youth-led protests.

Twenty-one protesters had been killed as of Tuesday evening, according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), with more than 200 injured.

“Listening keenly to the people of Kenya who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this Finance Bill 2024, I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 Finance Bill and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” Ruto said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Ruto said the bill was meant to raise the country’s tax revenues by 200 billion Kenyan shillings ($1.6 billion) to support various programs, and argued in defense of lawmakers who voted to support it. Members of parliament who voted for the bill have faced heavy public backlash, with their businesses and offices set ablaze in some instances.

His decision to withdraw the bill followed Tuesday’s protests in which demonstrators breached a heavy police cordon to enter parliament buildings in Nairobi as lawmakers voted to pass the bill.

A section of the building was set on fire, and members of parliament had to be evacuated with the help of security officers. Internet speeds were also throttled in the country in the hours following the march on parliament.

During his press conference on Wednesday, Ruto also directed for the reduction of budgetary allocations for executive travel and accommodation, addressing one of the protesters’ complaints.

Kenya’s parliament had earlier on Wednesday morning voted to approve the deployment of the military to restore order in parts of the country, following a request by the defense minister.The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) however, secured orders just hours later from the High Court in Nairobi barring the military deployment.

The president had on Tuesday night promised a strong response by security forces as he termed the day’s events ‘treasonous’, claiming that “legitimate” protests against the bill had been infiltrated by criminal elements.

Ruto and the police have come under fire over the use of live rounds of ammunition on protesters, as well as a series of abductions of key social media influencers associated with the movement. The president said on Wednesday that those killed in the protests “would be accounted for”, and that due process would be followed in arrests.

Demonstrators in the capital, Nairobi, however still plan to march to State House, Ruto’s official residence, on Thursday, even after his announcement. “He hasn’t fired a single thief in his cabinet,” activist Boniface Mwangi wrote on X following Ruto’s address. “Even this “reduced budget” will go into his people’s pockets.”

Moussa Faki, who chairs the African Union Commission, on Tuesday expressed concern over the protests in Kenya and violence witnessed in some areas. In a statement, he called for “national stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue to address the contentious issues that led to the protests in the supreme interest of Kenya.”