Be guided by Kenya protests!!

Reports from Ken­ya have it that mainly youth-led rallies which started last week protesting a bill proposing various tax hikes turned violent on Tuesday as the protesters stormed that country’s parliament and burnt part of it.

Consequently, the govern­ment ordered the police and the military to quell the violence from the protesters as a result of which one of the reports says 13 protesters have been killed, over 160 being treated in hospital and still counting.

Certain issues arising from or associated with the whole tax bill matter need particular attention because of the lessons they have for the Kenyan and other Afri­can governments.

One of the issues is that fol­lowing the protests, that coun­try’s President, William Ruto, has withdrawn the bill and wants it returned to Parliament for more amendment.

Another big issue is that the government appears to be rubbishing the concerns of the people as, for example, Ruto ve­hemently disputes arguments of the protesters that Kenyans are overtaxed, while he has failed to fulfil his own previously prom­ised commitment to address protesters’ concerns.

On top of this, the govern­ment appears peremptory as it does not pay heed to certain pieces of advice regarding the bill.

For instance. condemning the killing of protesters and appealing to the protesters to be cautious, members of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) said among other things that they formally raised very serious concerns on the Finance Bill to the Government.

But it failed to address some of their important suggestions.

They also called upon the legislators to be guided by their conscience in addressing the bill and the good of Kenyans but they went ahead to pass the bill into law for Ruto to assent to it.

It is also the case that it was not only the controversial bill that sparked the rallies but a combination of other factors such as Kenyans becoming exas­perated because the government does not take their concerns into consideration.

Imagine that while Kenyans are made to believe that their country is among East Africa’s most dynamic economies, a third of its 52 million population live in abject poverty.

Then what is equally worrying is that some media entities allow their outlets to be used to freely trivialize important issues in support of the government.

It is on record that two years ago (2022), Kenyan youth were derided as “disengaged” for failing to register as voters and to turn up for the general election.

Today, the same youth have, to a large extent, chosen a democratic way of participating in governance by demanding accountability and they are being crushed to death.

The last of the issues we want to raise regards responses African leaders and their cronies spew out when they are con­fronted by accountability crises or criticisms.

In a late-night press briefing, Ruto warned that his govern­ment would take a tough line against “violence and anarchy and that “It is not in order or even conceivable that criminals pretending to be peaceful pro­testers can reign terror against the people, their elected repre­sentatives and the institutions established under our constitu­tion and expect to go scot-free.”

Is this a response that can calm nerves?

Do you, as an African poli­tician, see the issues regarding the Kenyan tax bill controversy occurring in your country?

We have raised these issues to plead with African leaders that they should show the needed respect to their people and their views and learn to appropriate­ly make them understand why some views cannot be adopted in the circumstances of the day.

The English say “The enlight­ened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution. The scars of others should teach us caution. It is a good thing to learn caution from the misfor­tunes of others”.