Despite President William Ruto’s withdrawal of the controversial Finance Bill proposing taxes on certain commodities, Kenyans have mobilized for a ‘One Million People March’ to shut down the country on Thursday.
A flyer for the march has been circulating online, urging Kenyans to halt operations nationwide.
“For those around Nairobi, block all roads leading to the city on Thursday,” the flyer states.
Boniface Mwangi, a Kenyan photojournalist, shared the flyer on X, saying, “Yesterday they unleashed goons and police to kill peaceful protestors. That will not stop us. See you tomorrow at the One Million People March. He can’t kill us all.”
“All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya,” Hanifa Adan, a journalist and activist, said on X on Wednesday. “You cannot kill all of us. Tomorrow we march peacefully again as we wear white, for all our fallen people. You will not be forgotten.”
Tuesday’s anti-Finance Bill protest turned violent as Kenyan police fired live rounds at protesters, resulting in approximately ten deaths and 50 injuries.
On Wednesday, Amnesty International reported 23 deaths from police shootings nationwide during the protests, along with “over 50 arrests, 22 abductions, and more than 300 injuries.”
The international community, including the U.S., UK, Canada, Belgium, and others, expressed concerns over Tuesday’s killings of protesters by Kenyan police in a joint statement.
Amid sustained protests on Wednesday, President Ruto, who previously labelled the anti-tax protests as “treasonous,” refused to sign the bill into law and announced its withdrawal.
“Listening keenly to the people of Kenya who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this Finance Bill 2024, I concede, and therefore, I will not sign the 2024 Finance Bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” President Ruto said.
Since assuming office in 2022, President Ruto has imposed taxes in an effort to address Kenya’s national debt of approximately $80 billion and reduce borrowing.
However, the controversial Finance Bill proposing taxes on cars, bread, phones, sanitary pads, and other commodities has faced strong opposition, leading Kenyans to take to the streets over the past two weeks.
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