In an unexpected move, Kenya’s President, William Ruto declined to approve the controversial Finance Bill 2024 as a law and instead returned it to the legislature. The bill that was reviewed and passed its second reading in May through a vote of 205 to 115 has elicited a lot of anger from citizens since it seeks to impose taxes on basic necessities including edible oil, bread, and sanitary pads.
A new piece of legislation is expected to produce extra $2. 7 billion in taxes for the 2024/25 fiscal year to help balance the deficit of the country’s budget, and to minimize the state’s borrowings. However, this bill has incited national demonstrations with at least five individuals confirmed dead, many others including journalists and paramedics injured.
Public resistance is especially noticeable on social media platforms, especially with the #RejectFinanceBill trend. On the other hand, Kenya has been going through a sharp decline in internet service with the availability dropping to nearly 40% on Tuesday, June 25. Most citizens have concluded that the outages are planned to prevent the dissemination of information and media coverage on the protests while the CA states that there are no plans to derail internet services.
The citizens of the country are waiting for the next move, not knowing when or how the issues concerning the Finance Bill will be addressed. It is believed that the President’s office will release an official statement on the matter soon.
