Semafor Signals
Why young people are at the forefront of Kenya’s deadly protests
Insights from BBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera
The News
Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday said a controversial finance bill would be “withdrawn” in a major U-turn following youth-led protests that led to the storming of Parliament and the death of at least 22 people.
“Listening keenly to the people of Kenya who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this Finance Bill 2024, I concede,” Ruto said in a televised address. “Therefore, I will not sign the 2024 Finance Bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn. The people have spoken.”
Peaceful protests against tax rises in Kenya that began last week erupted into a broader nationwide movement against the bill. Anger against the government boiled over on Tuesday when demonstrators stormed Parliament.
A state-backed rights body said Wednesday it would launch an inquiry after police opened fire on the protesters, leading to what they said was “the largest number of deaths (in) a single day protest” in Kenya.
SIGNALS
A revolution ‘40 years in the making’
Kenya has been on the brink of a revolution for decades, argued Patrick Gathara, a senior editor at The New Humanitarian, in Al Jazeera. “Animated by anger over the state’s arrogance, corruption and long-running neglect of their needs as currently manifested in its tax proposals, a new generation has taken up the fight,” Gathara wrote. Buoyed by social media organizing, Kenyan youth are picking up the mantle and rejecting business-as-usual, he said. “It is glorious to behold.”
Controversial finance bill raises ire at IMF
Ruto’s finance bill originally proposed controversial tax hikes, including on bread and cooking oil, in a bid to increase revenue and reduce Kenya’s debt burden, moves traditionally encouraged by the International Monetary Fund. But the intense public backlash has revealed the challenge of doing so at the same time as a cost-of-living crisis, noted Bloomberg. “There’s a widespread feeling that ‘the administration has surrendered to the IMF and World Bank and ignored the feelings of the people,’” a history professor told the outlet. Protests against IMF-recommended measures have historically led to protests in other countries too including Pakistan, Argentina, and Indonesia.
Ruto faces tough choices following violence
Ruto faces difficult decisions ahead. Elected in 2022 on a platform to curb corruption and improve the nation’s economic fortunes, he has battled rampant opposition to his policies in and out of Parliament, the BBC noted. The youth movement could be one of the biggest challenges to Kenya’s government since the country’s independence in 1963, the outlet wrote. “Mr Ruto has years of experience wrangling politics to get things done. Now though, the forces massed against him are something truly beyond his control,” wrote the BBC’s Africa Bureau Chief Stewart Maclean.
