Kenyan riot police fired tear gas and used gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of demonstrators in Nairobi on Thursday, as coordinated marches were held across Kenya against government plans to collect $2.7 billion in additional taxes to reduce the budget deficit.
The police – who used water cannons – tried to disperse the demonstrators in Nairobi’s central business district and blocked their path to Parliament.
It was not clear why the police used force as the demonstration appeared peaceful, and the Kenya Red Cross branch in Nairobi said on the X website that it treated 8 wounded from the protests, without further details about the nature of the injuries.
Protesters say the tax hikes will hurt the economy and raise the cost of living for Kenyans who are already struggling to make ends meet.
A parliamentary committee urged the government the day before Tuesday to cancel some of the new taxes proposed in the draft finance law, including new taxes on car ownership, bread, cooking oil, and financial transactions.
President William Ruto was elected almost two years ago on a platform of helping the poor working class in Kenya, but he faced repeated anti-tax protests. Despite this, he defended tax increases, saying that the government needed to reduce its dependence on borrowing.
Elsewhere, such as Nyeri, Nakuru, Eldoret, Isiolo, Mombasa and Kisumu, demonstrators on Thursday called on lawmakers to drop the bill, waving banners with slogans such as “We say no to economic dictatorship” and chanting, “Ruto must go.”
The International Monetary Fund urged the government to increase revenues in its 2024/2025 budget to reduce state borrowing, and representatives were discussing the draft law on Thursday in its second reading before Parliament.
Ruto enjoys a majority in Parliament, although some lawmakers allied with his coalition have expressed reservations about the bill.
Parliament Majority Leader Kimani Echongwah said lawmakers will meet on Tuesday to vote on proposed changes to the bill.
Parliamentary Budget Committee Chairman Ndinde Nyoro said the Finance Ministry had told Parliament that scrapping a set of proposed tax increases would result in a revenue shortfall of 200 billion shillings (roughly $1.6 billion) in the 2024/25 budget, meaning similar spending cuts would have to be made. .
Hundreds of people demonstrated on Tuesday against the bill, in the largest violent backlash against Ruto’s government since protests in July last year when human rights groups said at least nine people were killed.
