DECRYPTION – Protests in Nairobi on Tuesday against a proposed budget were violently repressed, leaving 22 people dead. The president withdrew the law without completely appeasing demonstrators mired in economic difficulties.
The bloody crisis that has torn Kenya apart in recent days highlights two phenomena in Africa today. The importance of youth and the burden of debt that is undermining booming economies. Combined, the two factors easily lead states to boiling point. President William Ruto has understood this.
On Wednesday, he withdrew his project from the budget. This text notably provided for a VAT of 16% on bread and an annual tax of 2.5% on private vehicles. Presented on June 13, it ignited the powder, throwing thousands of young Kenyans into the streets in less than two weeks, taking power by surprise before the protest descended into deadly violence.
Police overwhelmed
On Tuesday, protesters forced their way into the center of the capital Nairobi, opening the sanctuary of Kenyan power, a complex housing the National Assembly and the Senate, some of whose buildings were set on fire and ransacked. An attack that had not been seen since independence…
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