NAIROBI, 26 Jun: Kenyan President William Ruto said Wednesday he won\u2019t sign into law a finance bill proposing new taxes, a day after protesters stormed parliament and several people were shot dead. It was the biggest assault on Kenya\u2019s government in decades.
\nThe government wanted to raise funds to pay off debt, but Kenyans said the bill caused more economic pain as millions struggle to get by. The chaos on Tuesday led the government to deploy the military, and Ruto called protesters\u2019 actions \u201ctreasonous.\u201d
\nThe president now says the bill caused \u201cwidespread dissatisfaction\u201d and he has listened to the people and \u201cconceded.\u201d It\u2019s a major setback for Ruto, who came to power vowing to help Kenyans cope with rising costs but has seen much of the country unite in opposition to his latest attempt at reforms.
\n\u201cIt is necessary for us to have a conversation as a nation on how to do we manage the affairs of the country together,\u201d the president said.
\nKenyans faced the lingering smell of tear gas and military in the streets a day after the latest protests saw thousands storm parliament, an act of defiance that Ruto called an \u201cexistential\u201d threat. At least 22 people were killed, a human rights group said.
\nRuto acknowledged deaths, calling it an \u201cunfortunate situation,\u201d and offered condolences.
\nThe capital, Nairobi, has seen protests in the past, but activists and others warned the stakes are more dangerous. Ruto on Tuesday vowed to quash unrest \u201cat whatever cost,\u201d even as more protests were called at State House on Thursday. Soldiers patrolled alongside police, who were accused of shooting several people dead on Tuesday.
\nKenyans united beyond tribal and other divisions in a youth-led effort to keep the finance bill from becoming law. It would have raised taxes and fees on a range of daily items and services, from egg imports to bank transfers. The government wanted the revenue to pay off debt in East Africa\u2019s economic hub.
\nThere were no reports of violence Wednesday, but there was fear. Civil society groups have reported abductions of people involved in recent protests and expect more to come.
\n\u201cWe are dealing with a new phenomenon and a group of people that is not predictable. If it would have been the normal demonstrations, I\u2019d say it will fizzle out with time, but we don\u2019t know whether these people will fear the army,\u201d said Herman Manyora, an analyst and professor at the University of Nairobi.
\nHe said Kenya\u2019s president missed an opportunity in his national address Tuesday night to calm tensions and adopt a more conciliatory approach.
\n\u201cWe expected him to appreciate the gravity of the issue and empathize with the young people,\u201d Manyora said. \u201cInstead, people saw an angry president who is reading a riot act to the nation.\u201d
\nMany young people who helped vote Ruto into power with cheers for his promises of economic relief now object to the pain of reforms. Part of the parliament building burned Tuesday, and clashes occurred in several communities beyond the capital.
\nAt least 22 people were killed, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission said. Commission chairperson Roseline Odede told journalists that 300 others were injured and 50 people were arrested.
\nThe mother of a teenager who was killed, Edith Wanjiku, told journalists at a morgue that the police who shot her son should be arrested and charged with murder because her 19-year-old son had been unarmed.
\n\u201cHe had just completed school and was peacefully protesting,\u201d she said.
\nParliament, city hall and the supreme court were cordoned off Wednesday with tape reading \u201cCrime Scene Do Not Enter.\u201d Authorities said police fired over 700 blanks to disperse protesters in the Nairobi suburb of Githurai overnight. Videos of the gunfire were shared online.
\n\u201cMy plea to the president is to listen to us and understand that this financial bill they want to pass is not as important as people\u2019s lives,\u201d said one Nairobi businessman, Gideon Hamisi. \u201cMany young people lost their lives yesterday. I am a young man, and I feel deeply pained by what transpired.\u201d
\nOpposition leader Raila Odinga condemned the killing of protesters and \u201cbrute force\u201d of authorities and called for dialogue, asserting that Kenya\u2019s constitution had been suspended.
\n\u201cKenya cannot afford to kill its children just because the children are asking for food, jobs and a listening ear,\u201d Odinga said in a statement.
\nIn Nairobi, a regional hub for expatriates and home to a United Nations complex, inequality among Kenyans has sharpened along with long-held frustrations over state corruption. The booming young population is also frustrated by the lavish lifestyles of politicians including the president. Some who had passionately supported Ruto, who won the presidency by portraying himself as a \u201chustler\u201d of humble background, feel betrayed.
\nThe youth, commonly referred to as Gen Zs, mobilized the protests and had sought to keep lawmakers from approving the finance bill. Ruto had had two weeks to sign the bill into law.
\nThe events are a sharp turn for Ruto, who has been embraced by the United States as a welcome partner in Africa while frustration grows elsewhere on the continent with the U.S. and some other Western powers.
\nIn May, Ruto went to Washington in the first state visit by an African leader in 16 years. On Tuesday, as the protests exploded, the U.S designated Kenya as its first major non-NATO ally in sub-Saharan Africa, a largely symbolic act but one highlighting their strong security partnership. Also Tuesday, hundreds of Kenyan police deployed to lead a multinational force against gangs in Haiti, an initiative that brought thanks from U.S. President Joe Biden.
\nNow Kenya\u2019s president and his government \u2014 along with protesters \u2014 face pleas for calm and pressure from partners including the U.S., which joined a dozen other nations in a statement Tuesday expressing \u201cdeep concern\u201d over the violence and abductions.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s reason together,\u201d the Daily Nation\u2019s front page said. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, 26 Jun: Kenyan President William Ruto said Wednesday he won\u2019t sign into law a finance bill proposing new taxes, a day after protesters stormed parliament and several people were shot dead. It was the biggest assault on Kenya\u2019s government in decades. The government wanted to raise funds to pay off debt, but Kenyans said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}