President William Ruto of Kenya is grappling with the most serious crisis of his two-year-old presidency as the youth-led protest movement has grown rapidly from online condemnations of the tax hikes into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul.
Lacking a formal leadership structure, the demonstration on,Wednesday led to the death of at least 23 people and parliament was briefly stormed and set alight, according to Reuters.
It was not clear how far , the protesters, who are now demanding for accountability even for funds collected preciously from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be mollified by President Ruto’s Wednesday decision to withdraw the finance bill, a day after the massacre.
The protesters have heavily criticized various sums of money spent on the residences of the deputy president and other government officials, calling for official accountability
In fact , the protesters are calling for the resignation of Ruto.
Some Nigerians say happenings in Kenya should serve as great lessons for the government.
The legislature in Kenya was blamed for allegedly being “rubber stamp ‘ of the executive by signing the bill without consulting and considering the prevailing realities, just as the president allegedly sidelined the people’s input before sending the bill to the legislature.
Joe Keshi, former Nigerian diplomat says there is the need for effective communication on any issue as well as the need for proper training of the police to handle situations no matter how difficult so as to save lives as opposes to what happened in Kenya.
Keshi, who appeared on the Arise Television’s The Morning Show, program says Nigeria should learn and embrace dialogue, consultations and the need for the National Assembly to be sensitive to the yearnings of the citizens.
Another stakeholder said the fact that the protesters are against their government rushing to IMF and World Bank for loan’ by all Means should warn the leadership in Nigeria that the citizens are not happy with some of the monetary and fiscal policies taking so far as he claims that they are engineered by these institutions.
”The National Assembly as it is today is seen and truly too, considered as a rubber stamp of the executive and there is need for the members to be pro-people in their legislation’s. ALSO extra budgetary spendings should be scrutinized and oversight functions must be taken seriously,” he added.
However, in far away Kenya,, supporters were divided on how far to carry the demonstrations.
“Let’s not be foolish as we fight for a better Kenya,” Boniface Mwangi, a prominent social justice activist, said in an Instagram post.
Reuters said Kenyan police put up roadblocks on streets leading to the presidential palace on Thursday as some protesters vowed to “occupy State House”, despite the president’s climbdown on proposed tax hikes that sparked a week of demonstrations.
He voiced support for demonstrations on Thursday but opposed calls to invade State House, the president’s formal offices and residence, a move that he said could spur more violence and be used to justify a crackdown.
In the capital, Nairobi, police and soldiers patrolled the streets on Thursday and blocked access to the State House.
Police fired teargas to disperse several dozen people who had gathered in the centre of the city, although the crowds were nowhere near the size of those in Tuesday’s mass protests.
Reuters reporters saw army vehicles on the streets after the government deployed the military to help police.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in the port city of Mombasa and in the western city of Kisumu, local television footage showed, although those gatherings appeared peaceful.
While some protest supporters said they would not demonstrate on Thursday as the finance bill had been scrapped, others pledged to press on, saying only Ruto’s resignation would satisfy them.
“Right now is not about just the finance bill but about #RutoMustGo,” political activist and protester Davis Tafari told Reuters in a text message. “We have to make sure that Ruto and his MPs have resigned and fresh elections are held … We occupy State House for dignity and justice.”
Eli Owuor, 34, from Kibera, an informal settlement and a traditional hotbed of protests, also said he was prepared to join a push on to the State House.
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In a speech on Wednesday, Ruto defended his push to raise taxes on items such as bread, cooking oil and diapers, saying it was justified by the need to cut Kenya’s high debt, which has made borrowing difficult and squeezed the currency.
But he acknowledged that the public had overwhelmingly rejected the finance bill. He said he would now start a dialogue with Kenyan youth and work on austerity measures, beginning with cuts to the budget of the presidency.
The International Monetary Fund, which has been urging the government to cut its deficit to obtain more funding, said it was closely monitoring the situation in Kenya.
“We are deeply concerned about the tragic events in Kenya in recent days,” the IMF said in a statement. “Our main goal in supporting Kenya is to help it overcome the difficult economic challenges it faces and improve its economic prospects and the well-being of its people.”
Ratings agency Moody’s said the shift in focus to cutting spending rather than boosting revenue will complicate the disbursement of future IMF funding and slow the pace of fiscal consolidation.
Analysts at JPMorgan said they had maintained their forecasts for a deficit of 4.5% of GDP in FY2024/2025, but acknowledged the government and IMF targets could be revised in light of recent developments.
They said the Central Bank of Kenya was unlikely to begin cutting rates until the final quarter of this year.
BROAD APPEAL
Unlike previous demonstrations in Kenya called by political figures and often mobilised on the basis of ethnicity, the current protests have appealed broadly to those weary of rising living costs and endemic corruption.
From big cities to rural areas, most of Kenya’s 47 counties saw protests on Tuesday, even in Ruto’s hometown of Eldoret in his ethnic Kalenjin heartland.
At least 23 people were killed nationwide and 30 were being treated for bullet wounds, the Kenya Medical Association said. Medical officials in Nairobi said scores were injured.