Mass protests have mobilised in Kenya ever since the government announced plans to introduce sweeping tax increases. While the government has backtracked on its changes, protests continue because many are fundamentally dissatisfied with a political class they see as corrupt and out of touch. They’re also angry about the systemic problem of security force violence, with at least 50 people killed during the protests. Young people are leading the protests, making heavy use of social media and mobilising across traditional divides. A new generation has taken centre stage in the national conversation, and they want a fundamental rebalancing of power.

Kenya’s President William Ruto has withdrawn the tax-increasing Finance Bill that sparked mass protests across Kenya. He has also sacked his cabinet and the head of the police has resigned. But the anger many feel about his presidency and his government’s policies hasn’t gone away, and protests continue.

The protests have brought Kenya’s Gen Z onto the political stage. Young people, who make up over 65 per cent of Kenya’s population, have been at the forefront. Since the protests began, they’ve made full use of social media to share their views, explain the impact of the changes the government proposed in easy-to-understand terms and in several languages, hold mass online discussions, organise protests and raise funds to help those injured or arrested.

These protests have been different to those in the past. They’ve been much more organic than previous opposition-organised demonstrations. Many have been held in places that most strongly supported Ruto in the last election. The movement has also brought people together across the ethnic lines that politicians have so often exploited in the past.

People have protested even in the knowledge that security force violence is guaranteed. At least 50 people have died so far. As protests have continued, people have increasingly demanded accountability for the killings and the many other acts of state violence against protesters.

Voices from the frontline

Bina Maseno is Executive Director of Badili Africa, a women’s rights organisation that seeks to engage young women who are disenfranchised, disengaged and disillusioned by politics.

 

The protests have not been just about the Finance Bill; there is a lot more under the surface. There is widespread dissatisfaction with Kenya’s debt situation. People feel there was a lack of transparency about borrowed funds, causing uncertainty about how money is being spent. Discontent has been further fuelled by persistent corruption, visible in politicians living opulent lives that their official salaries can’t account for. This contrasts sharply with the daily struggles of the ordinary people they represent, exacerbating the sense of injustice.

High levels of unemployment among young people have added a further layer of frustration. According to the World Bank, every year about one million people graduate from tertiary education institutions in Kenya, but only 50,000 can find jobs. The very limited opportunities available result in anger and hopelessness.

Protesters have also expressed a widespread dissatisfaction with public participation through institutional channels, seen as meaningless because representatives aren’t responsive to the needs of their constituents. The majority of members of the ruling coalition voted in favour of the Finance Bill despite their constituents’ widespread opposition.

In short, the protests are not only an outcry against specific economic measures, but also a broader call for accountability, transparency and genuine representation.

Ruto’s combative stance – his failure to address people’s demands, his authorisation of violent repression and his refusal to acknowledge the loss of life, including by failing to offer condolences to victims’ families – has only added to people’s anger and frustration.

The government needs to really listen and act on the needs of the people who continue to express their concerns every day. Young people account for over 65 per cent of the Kenyan population, and want their voices heard and their concerns addressed, not dismissed because of their age.

The protests have largely been organised through social media, without any financial incentive. Creatives, including musicians, comedians and influencers, who typically avoid political conversations, played a crucial role in spreading information about the Finance Bill. Users of platforms such as TikTok translated the bill into different Kenyan languages, ensuring widespread understanding and engagement. Information quickly spread through other social media platforms and messaging apps such as Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp.

Fundraising efforts have also been innovative and highly successful. For example, the M-Changa group raised 8 million Kenyan shillings (approx. US$62,400) in two hours and 25 million (approx. US$195,000) in two days, with contributions coming both from local and diaspora communities. Local fundraising was crucial in supporting those affected by protests.

The protests themselves have been characterised by unique forms of expression. People have played football, sang and engaged in cultural and artistic activities, combining protest with creativity and community spirit. This approach contrasts with typical confrontational protests and shows a new way of expressing dissent.

 

This is an edited extract of our conversation with Bina. Read the full interview here.

Out-of-touch elite

The Finance Bill would have imposed a levy on a wide range of everyday essentials such as bread, and taxes on internet use, mobile phones and money transfer services. Women would have been further hit by an increase in tax on menstrual products. For many, this was simply too much to bear in a context of high youth unemployment and rising costs of living.

The new taxes were among conditions demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in return for a US$3.9 billion package, along with the IMF’s usual prescription of spending cuts and privatisation that generally hit the poorest people the hardest.

Ruto has continued to blame his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, for lavish spending on grand projects that caused unsustainable debt. But Ruto was Kenyatta’s vice president, and only broke with his long-time ally after he wasn’t chosen as his party’s next presidential candidate.

To protesters, Ruto is as out of touch as the presidents before him. Opponents accuse him of trying to boost his presence on the world stage, including by offering to have Kenya lead an international policing mission to violence-torn Haiti, rather than addressing domestic problems. On the Finance Bill, he was seen as too willing to meet the demands of US-dominated financial institutions such as the IMF rather than stand up for Kenyans.

Problems such as corruption and patronage have run through multiple governments. Politicians are accused of enjoying lavish lifestyles insulated from people’s everyday problems. Kenya’s members of parliament are proportionally the second-highest paid in the world, earning 76 times the average per capita GDP. Even so, allegations of corruption are rife.

Ruto’s administration attempted to create another layer of government jobs – chief administrative secretaries – until a court ruled the move unconstitutional. He also created new staffed offices for the first lady, deputy first lady and prime ministerial spouse, a decision reversed in the wake of the protests. The proposed budget that increased taxes were supposed to pay for was filled with such examples of the government planning to spend more on itself.

As well as the tax rises, people were angered at the hurried introduction of the new measures and the lack of consultation. Protests have been held in constituencies represented by politicians who voted for the bill, with people accusing their elected members of ignoring their concerns and calling for them to resign.

Broken promises and state violence

For many, the sense of betrayal is heightened because when Ruto won an unexpected and narrow election victory in 2022, it was on a campaign that positioned him as the champion of struggling people, promising to tackle the high cost of living and accusing Kenyatta of being out of touch with everyday hardships. Turnout was low, reflecting widespread disaffection, particularly among young people, but more people voted in poorer areas, likely a decisive factor in Ruto’s victory. But since then, many who backed him have become disillusioned.

The cost of living kept increasing, and Ruto quickly reneged on promises to stop electricity price rises. Shortly after taking power, he axed subsidies on energy, fuel and the staple food of maize flour. In June 2023, the government passed the Finance Act, which included a raft of new taxes and levies.

These measures sparked opposition-organised protests, and the response to them was state violence that left six people dead. The pattern is consistent. Kenyan security forces seem to know no way to respond to a protest other than with violence.

On 25 June, the worst day of violence in the 2024 protests, security forces fired live ammunition at protesters, killing several, including some reportedly targeted by police snipers perched atop buildings. They’ve also used rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon, including against media and medical personnel. On 28 June, the High Court ordered the police to temporarily halt its use of force. It previously blocked military deployment following a legal challenge by the Kenya Law Society.

Protest leaders and social media influencers who’ve spoken out have been targeted for abduction and arrest, including ahead of major planned protests. People who’ve been abducted have reportedly been tortured.

On 25 June, some protesters briefly attempted to storm parliament and started fires, but there have been accusations that politicians have paid people to infiltrate the protest movement and instigate acts of violence to try to justify brutality by security forces. Media providing live coverage of the protests have reported receiving threats from the authorities telling them to shut down and internet access has been disrupted. Influencers have had their accounts suspended.

Although Ruto eventually pledged to take action where there is video evidence of police violence, he has also been criticised for saying little about protest deaths and previously praised police actions. He also accused ‘organised criminals’ of hijacking the protests and called the attempt to storm parliament ‘treasonous’.

Politicians have also repeatedly smeared civil society organisations, claiming they’re being used by foreign powers to fund protests. Ruto, without offering any evidence, has accused the US-based Ford Foundation of helping finance unrest. These are troubling developments in the state’s relationship with civil society.

Demands for change

More than a month on, protests demanding Ruto’s resignation continue. At least one more person has been killed in the latest round of protests and attempted abductions have continued.

It’s not just about the economy, and it’s not just about Ruto. It’s about the rejection of a whole political class and its way of governing. Trust in the institutions of government and the security forces is now very low.

Kenya has many other deep-rooted problems that successive governments have failed to address, including pervasive gender inequality and correspondingly high rates of femicide, which sparked protests in January but resulted in little government action. The issue has sadly returned to the news with the grisly discovery of several women’s bodies in a rubbish tip near a police station, a revelation that has also fuelled further suspicion about the police’s competence and motives.

Dialogue has been promised, but many feel it will be superficial. The government’s response to the protests should be to listen and consult deeply – and then change. People have shown they have power. They’ve shown that a system where they elect a political elite every few years to make decisions for them isn’t enough. They’ve shown they want something better.

OUR CALLS FOR ACTION

  • The government of Kenya must refrain from using violence against peaceful protesters and investigate all human rights violations by security forces.
  • The government must guarantee and uphold fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression.
  • The government must initiate a genuine national dialogue to build consensus on a democratic way forward.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

Cover photo by Kabir Dhanji/AFPvia Getty Images