Embattled Kenyan President William Ruto has today dismissed his cabinet with immediate effect, except the chief cabinet secretary and vice president.
This comes after weeks of protests by youth after government raised taxes, supposedly to help raise funds to cut the country’s debt. Soon after the protests, government recalled the Finance Bill 2024, and announced several measures to reduce the public wage bill.
On June 13, Kenya presented its about 30 billion U.S. dollars budget for the financial year 2024/2025, which focused on sustaining economic growth expected to reach 5.5 percent in 2024, according to the National Treasury.
The withdrawn Finance Bill 2024, which sparked youth protests, sought to raise an additional 2.67 billion dollars through new taxes.
The protests, led by Gen Zs as they are referred to, began as largely peaceful demonstrations in cities and towns across Kenya and online after the Finance Bill 2024 was introduced in parliament on June 18.
After several days of rallies, the demonstrations turned violent across the country, with protesters attempting to storm the parliament building.
Businesses in several cities were looted and vandalized. Protesters expressed outrage over provisions of the bill that would raise taxes on essential goods and services, such as bread and mobile money transfers, to meet the government’s revenue targets.