NAIROBI: Kenyan President William Ruto threatened further action this week after withdrawing prepared tax increases and bowing to force from activists who had stormed parliament.
The decision will be viewed as a significant victory for a young, youth-led, week-old protest movement that developed from online protests against income increases to mass demonstrations calling for a social reform, in Ruto’s second-year presidency’s most significant crisis.
However, some demonstrators claimed on social media that they would continue holding a rally on Thursday, with some reiterating demands that Ruto resign.
A moment after violent clashes between officers and protesters at the council and global that left at least 23 people dying and scores of injured, Ruto announced he would never sign a fund expenses, including the tax increases, washed.
I apologise for Kenyans who have vehemently declared that they do not want anything to do with the 2024 financing expenses. And so, I did not sign the 2024 financing bill, and it shall eventually be withdrawn”, he said in a staged address with lawmakers.
Ruto said he would presently engage children in a speech with Kenyans, without going into specifics, and operate on austerity measures to make up the difference in the nation’s money, beginning with cuts to the presidency’s resources.
