KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Kenya’s president came to power by appealing to the common people, describing himself as a “hustler” and vowing relief from economic pain. But when he was forced to give up on a controversial tax hike that led to deadly chaos in the capital, Nairobi, it was a clear sign that support for him has turned.
Protesters who opposed a law that would have raised taxes stormed parliament on Tuesday, burning part of the building as lawmakers fled. Bodies lay in the streets, and medical workers and watchdogs said police had opened fire. The military was deployed.
President William Ruto pushed the law through parliament despite opposition from the youth-led protest movement, and called protesters “treasonous” after they stormed parliament. But on Wednesday, with troops in the capital’s streets and the smell of tear gas lingering in the air, he conceded that the plan had caused “widespread dissatisfaction” and said he would not sign the bill.
Here’s a look at the unrest in East Africa’s most stable democracy and the most serious assault on Kenya’s government in decades.
The finance bill was meant to raise or introduce taxes or fees on a range of daily items and services including internet data, fuel, bank transfers and diapers. Some measures were stripped as anger grew. The proposals was part of the Kenyan government’s efforts to raise an extra $2.7 billion in domestic revenue.
The government said the changes were necessary to pay interest on national debt, reduce the budget deficit and keep the government running. Protesters saw them as punitive, since the high cost of living already makes it hard to get by.
A 2023 finance bill signed into law by Ruto was also unpopular, featuring a tax on salaries for housing, but the anger was nothing like this.
Young Kenyans have been organizing on social media, organizing peaceful street demonstrations meant to force authorities to drop this finance bill altogether. The protests started on June 18 after the bill was made public for the first time.
The protests began in Nairobi but have spread to other parts of Kenya, including the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa and even in Eldoret, a town in the Rift Valley region that’s been a bastion of support for the president.
Kenya’s political opposition stormed out of Tuesday session’s in which the bill was passed.
Kenya has seen protests in the past, but activists and others warned the stakes were now more dangerous.
“We are dealing with a new phenomenon and a group of people that is not predictable,” said Herman Manyora, an analyst and professor at the University of Nairobi. “We don’t know whether these people will fear the army.”
Ruto deployed police and soldiers to quell the protests, infuriating demonstrators and escalating the situation. At least 22 people were killed on Tuesday, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission said, and police were accused of some shooting deaths. Chairperson Roseline Odede said 50 people were arrested.
Ruto acknowledged there were deaths, without elaborating, called it an “unfortunate situation” and offered condolences. He also said about 200 people were wounded in the chaos.
Ruto, elected in 2022, has consistently urged all Kenyans to pay their fair share of taxes. Some Kenyans now mock him as “Zakayo,” after the biblical tax collector Zacchaeus. Many see his aggressive stance as a form of dictatorship that’s out of sync with the realities of ordinary people.
In 2023, after the courts blocked some of his tax proposals, the president threatened to disregard court orders. That drew criticism from the Law Society of Kenya, whose leader accused Ruto of seeing himself as above the law.
Pro-democracy activists have warned that Ruto’s attacks on the judiciary indicate an authoritarian streak. Some see similarities between Ruto and his mentor Daniel arap Moi, the former president who led Kenya during a long period of one-party rule.
Ruto in his presidential campaign called himself the anti-establishment candidate and vowed to implement policies to put more money in Kenyans’ pockets. But the so-called “hustlers” who supported him were dismayed when his government removed crucial fuel and maize flour subsidies. Many Kenyans saw it as a betrayal.
Ruto, now fabulously wealthy, frequently urges Kenyans to tighten their belts. But his state visit to the United States in May created controversy when he chartered a luxury private jet instead of using the presidential jet or Kenya’s national carrier. Ruto later said the chartered jet had been paid for by friends he didn’t name.
