Kenya's President, William Ruto backed down on planned tax
hikes on Wednesday. Bowing to pressure after deadly nationwide
protests to the people of Kenya who have said loudly
but they want nothing to do with this finance bill
. 2024. I concede and therefore I will not
sign Ruto's backtracking will be seen as a major victory
for a week old youth led protest movement that grew
from online condemnations of tax increases into mass rallies.
Demonstrators stormed parliament on Tuesday as protests were held across
the country. Police opened fire on the crowds who
later broke into the assembly's compound just minutes after lawmakers
had voted through the tax measure. Some demonstrators said
on social media that despite Ruto's climb down, they
would go ahead with a rally planned for Thursday with
many reiterating demands that he resign. Medics said violent
clashes between police and protesters had left at least 23
people dead across the country and scores wounded. Edith
Aino is a relative of a deceased protester. It
is very devastating because these are young kids, they
were out to fight for their rights. I didn't
see the reason for using the live bullets on them
. A Kenyan news outlet reported protests in at least
35 of Kenya's 47 counties. The unrest marks the
most serious crisis of Ruto's two year old presidency and
the about face may see off the immediate threat of
more action but it leaves him caught between the competing
demands of his hard pressed citizens and of lenders such
as the IMF which is urging the government to cut
deficits to obtain more financing.