A controversial but watered-down finance bill, which many fear will increase the cost of living, will be debated in parliament.
Police in Kenya fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse protesters who had gathered near parliament in the capital to demonstrate against planned tax increases that many fear will worsen the cost of living crisis.
Tense scenes unfolded in Nairobi on Thursday as hundreds of people took to the streets in opposition to a financial law, which proposes the introduction of new taxes and fees that would increase the price of basic goods.
The tax increases were expected to raise 346.7 billion shillings ($2.7 billion), equivalent to 1.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), and reduce the budget deficit by 5.7 % to 3.3% of GDP.
President William Ruto’s cash-strapped government agreed to make concessions on Tuesday, watering down the law after hundreds of mostly young protesters clashed with police.
But the government will continue to press ahead with some tax increases and has defended the proposed increases as necessary to fill its coffers and reduce dependence on external borrowing.
Protesters decided to hold demonstrations across the country, including in the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa and the lakeside city of Kisumu, both opposition strongholds.
In Nairobi, lawmakers were debating the bill on Thursday, in its second reading before parliament. The final version must be approved before June 30th. Meanwhile, authorities blocked several roads near parliament and carried out heavy police mobilization.
Reporting from Nairobi city center, Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb said protesters outnumbered police on the streets.
“The police are firing a lot of tear gas here this morning… and there is a strong smell of tear gas in the air where we are,” he said. Around him, some people shouted: “Ruto must go!”
“Many protesters here are young people, social media users. It looks very different to the types of protests we saw in Kenya just over a year ago, called by the political opposition also over the rising cost of living,” said Webb. “The cost of living has increased, intermittently, since the global crisis [COVID-19] pandemic.”
‘Targeting the poor’
Kenyans are “fed up with increasing taxation,” Stella Agara, a Kenyan tax justice activist, told Al Jazeera, adding that “especially the increase in austerity measures that continue to target the poorest citizens and are becoming very uncomfortable for most of them.”
“But now there is a very interesting group that has been brought to the forefront, which is Gen Z… They have been extremely disinterested in elections, voting, etc. those who are in the streets protesting against tax increases – especially because of some of the taxes that will be levied on the creation of digital content, which is a space they dominate.”
Agara said younger Kenyans have also seen their parents’ financial struggles under “a government that is completely insensitive to their needs,” which is also causing them to react this way.
The presidency announced on Tuesday the removal of proposed taxes on the purchase of bread, car ownership, as well as financial and mobile services, prompting a warning from the Treasury about a deficit of 200 billion shillings (1, 5 billion dollars) as a result of budget cuts.
The government has now decided to increase fuel prices and export taxes to fill the void left by the changes, a move that critics say will make life more expensive in a country already struggling with high inflation.
East Africa’s economic powerhouse relies heavily on diesel for transport, energy production and agriculture, while kerosene is used by many families for cooking and lighting.
Tuesday’s protest was largely peaceful, although police also fired bursts of tear gas. At least 335 people were arrested, according to a consortium of pressure groups, including human rights commission KNCHR and Amnesty Kenya.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
