The movement called “Occupy Parliament” has been gaining momentum in Kenya for a week.
He opposes the 2024-25 budget project, which provides for the introduction of new taxes.
The call for a strike on Tuesday descended into chaos in Nairobi, with clashes between demonstrators and the police.
At least five people were killed.
The mobilization of Kenyan “generation Z” is degenerating. A week after a first peaceful demonstration of a few hundred people, the call for a general strike this Tuesday in Nairobi led to violent incidents. Live ammunition, Parliament invaded, fires… At least five people were killed and 31 others injured in the capital. Why is Kenya descending into violence? Explanations.
The crisis began on June 13, when the “Occupy Parliament” movement was launched on social networks. Its objective: to organize the protest, a few hours after the presentation to Parliament of the 2024-2025 draft budget. This has indeed generated a wave of anger, because it notably provides for the introduction of new taxes, including a VAT of 16% on bread and an annual tax of 2.5% on private vehicles.
For the government, taxes are necessary to restore room for maneuver to the country, which is heavily in debt. But for many young Kenyans, this is the last straw: on social networks, “generation Z”, born after 1997, quickly seized the reins of the protest. In the streets, young protesters always have their smartphones in their hands to protect themselves and film the police, regularly accused of human rights violations. The anti-tax slogan quickly transformed into a questioning of President William Ruto’s policies, with cries of “Ruto must go” (“Ruto must go“).
After initially qualifying “d’ignorant“this movement led by”cool kids“, the government made an about-face. It announced on June 18 that it would reverse most of the planned taxes, notably the 16% VAT on bread, without succeeding in stopping the protest. But the demonstrators continued their movement, demanding the complete withdrawal of the text. They denounce a sleight of hand by the government which plans to compensate for the withdrawal of certain tax measures by others, in particular a 50% increase in fuel taxes.
“We are going to discuss with our young people”
On Sunday, President Ruto, elected in August 2022, said he was open to dialogue. “I am very proud of our young people (…) They have asserted themselves in a peaceful way and I want to tell them that we are going to discuss with them”, he assured. In vain: one of the leaders of the movement, the journalist and activist Hanifa Adan, asked him to “respond publicly” to requests for cancellation of new taxes.
Faced with the silence of the authorities, the protesters called for a general strike on Tuesday, June 25. Which quickly descended into chaos when demonstrators forced the police barricades and entered Parliament. AFP journalists present on the scene saw three unconscious people lying in pools of blood on the outskirts of this district, the epicenter of power, where a building was briefly on fire. A few hundred meters away, the police were using a water cannon to put out a fire in the offices of the governor of Nairobi, according to images broadcast by Citizen TV.
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Cornered, President Ruto could also see the movement spread. Other demonstrations have indeed been held in several other cities in the country, notably in the opposition strongholds of Mombasa (east) and Kisumu (west), as well as in Eldoret (west), a large city in the Rift Valley, President William Ruto’s home region, Nyeri (southwest) and Nakuru (centre).
