In Kenya, the repression of demonstrations against the 2024 finance law left one person dead this Thursday, June 20, in Nairobi, the capital. Several civil society organizations and the independent authority responsible for policing the police announced this Friday, June 21. Since Tuesday, the “Occupy Parliament” movement has been gaining momentum. This historic mobilization for Kenya calls for the withdrawal of the finance bill.
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With our correspondent in Nairobi, Gaëlle Laleix
With this finance law, the government Kenyan hopes to bring in 2.5 billion euros more than the previous year in its coffers. To do this, the project provides for a battery of new taxes. The most unpopular ones were abandoned this Tuesday by the deputies. It was a tax of 16% on bread, another of 2.5% on motorized transport or even an eco-tax on polluting products, notably causing an increase in the price of sanitary napkins or diapers for example.
A new call for mobilization
Despite this, the protest does not weaken. The demonstrators are demanding the complete withdrawal of the law and the mobilization is tending to transform into a youth opposition movement to President William Ruto. This Friday, former President Uhuru Kenyatta compared this youth to a “ time bomb that must be managed with care “.
For their part, Generation Z continues their mobilization. From Friday to Saturday, at midnight, bars must turn off their music to allow the slogans “ Ruto must go ” And ” Let’s reject the finance law “. A call for general mobilization has been launched for Tuesday when the text will enter its third reading in Parliament.
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