The withdrawal of the draft budget will not have eased tensions in Kenya. The start of the new day of demonstrations, Thursday June 27, was marked by tear gas fire in the business center of the capital Nairobi. The police, deployed in large numbers in the streets of the city center, used tear gas on scattered groups of dozens of demonstrators mobilized against government policy.
Kenya was indeed preparing for a new day of anti-government protests, the day after President William Ruto announced the withdrawal of his budget proposal following Tuesday’s day of protests which degenerated into deadly violence in Nairobi.
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In the capital, a large police force was deployed to prevent access to State House, the presidential palace, journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted. On Avenue Moi in the center of the capital, where many businesses remained closed Thursday morning, Moe, employed in a perfumery, has just lowered the curtain. “We don’t know what will happen (…) We can’t take risks”he told AFP.
The unprecedented protest movement led by youth, which swept the country in less than two weeks and took power by surprise, emerged shortly after the presentation to Parliament on June 13 of the 2024-2025 budget, notably providing for a VAT of 16% on bread and an annual tax of 2.5% on private vehicles.
Live ammunition
If previous days of mobilization demanding the withdrawal of these new taxes had taken place calmly, Tuesday’s demonstration in Nairobi turned into a bloodbath, particularly around the National Assembly and Senate complex, some of which buildings were burned and ransacked.
According to several NGOs, the police fired live ammunition to try to contain the crowd which forced security barriers to enter the complex, an attack unprecedented in the history of the independent country since 1963.
A total of 22 people were killed on Tuesday, including 19 in Nairobi, and more than 300 injured, Kenya’s national human rights watchdog (KNHRC) said. “Why did they have to kill these young people? This bill is not worth people dying (…) Some people are angry and might want revenge”laments Moe in front of his perfume shop, adding: “We are in uncharted territory”.
The president of the Kenya Medical Association, Simon Kigondu, said he had never seen before Tuesday “such a level of violence against unarmed people”. An official at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, the country’s main hospital, told AFP on Wednesday that he had received “160 people (…) some with superficial injuries, others with gunshot wounds”.
The spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres demanded on Wednesday that responsibilities be “clearly” established after the death of the demonstrators.
The protest movement continues
Because Tuesday’s deadly toll has not deterred the protest movement, which has transformed into a broader denunciation of the policies of President Ruto, elected in 2022 with the promise of promoting redistribution to the working classes. On Wednesday, a figure in the protest movement, journalist and activist Hanifa Adan, called for protests again on Thursday during a silent march “peaceful” in memory of the victims.
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A few hours later, William Ruto, who the day before had said he wanted to firmly repress “violence and anarchy”finally announced the withdrawal of the draft budget, and said he wanted a national consultation with young people.
An announcement immediately described as“com operation” by Hanifa Adan, and greeted with suspicion by a number of demonstrators who were preparing to take to the streets again on Thursday in the center of Nairobi and in other cities in the country such as Kisumu (west) and Mombasa (south).
The government, which had argued that the taxes were necessary to give the heavily indebted country some room for maneuver, announced on June 18 that it was withdrawing most of the measures. But the demonstrators demanded the complete withdrawal of the text.
“How can we manage our debt situation together?”, questioned William Ruto after capitulating on the draft budget. He was particularly concerned about a significant hole in funding for programs for farmers and teachers.
The country’s public debt stands at about 10 trillion shillings (71 billion euros), or about 70% of GDP. The 2024-25 budget included a record 4 trillion shillings (29 billion euros) in spending. Kenya, one of East Africa’s fastest-growing economies, recorded inflation of 5.1% year-on-year in May.
