Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday withdrew planned tax hikes, bowing to pressure from protesters who had stormed parliament, launched demonstrations across the country, and threatened more action this week. This move marks a significant victory for the week-old, youth-led protest movement that grew from online condemnations of tax rises into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul, posing the most serious crisis of Ruto’s two-year-old presidency.
Despite Ruto’s concession, some demonstrators announced on social media that they would proceed with a rally planned for Thursday, reiterating demands for his resignation. Ruto announced he would not sign a finance bill including the tax increases, following clashes between police and protesters at the assembly and nationwide, which left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded, according to medics.
Vice President Rigathi Gachagua urged young people to call off the protests to avoid further loss of life and property damage, blaming the intelligence services for providing the government with poor advice. However, protesters remained defiant, continuing to call for Ruto’s resignation and vowing further action in the streets.
Members of the protest movement continued to post on social media using the hashtag #tupatanethursday, or “see you on Thursday,” in a mix of Swahili and English.
Kalonzo Musyoka, a senior opposition leader and former vice president, wrote on X that withdrawing the bill did not go far enough, calling on Ruto to quit.
The bill will return to parliament with the recommendation that all its clauses be deleted, Ruto wrote in a document addressed to the speaker of the national assembly.
Ruto stated that he would now start a dialogue with Kenyan youth, without providing details, and work on austerity measures—beginning with cuts to the budget of the presidency—to help tackle the fiscal deficit.
He described the loss of life on Tuesday as “very unfortunate.”
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