Kenya’s government will have to bring back some tax measures that were scrapped after deadly protests in June, raising the risk of further unrest.
Finance Minister, John Mbadi in an interview said some of the measures would be tweaked and not all would be revived, but they are needed to pay for expenditure including wages of teachers.
Some people who were involved in the youth-led protest movement that rocked the East African nation said they are ready to go back onto the streets after the minister’s announcement.
President William Ruto abandoned the finance bill for this fiscal year on June 26, and later dismissed most of his cabinet, bowing to pressure from protesters who had stormed parliament and launched demonstrations across the country.
The bill had contained new taxes and hikes to raise an extra two-point-seven-zero billion dollars – plans that the protesters said would pile pressure onto a population already struggling with surging living costs. Mbadi, who was brought into the cabinet from the opposition benches as Ruto tried to prop up his government, had ruled out further tax hikes during his first public remarks in the post on Aug. 4, 2024.