Thousands of young Kenyans protest tax hikes

Consumer Education
NAIROBI – Armed with smartphones and whistles, thousands of young Kenyans staged protests across the country on Thursday to protest tax hikes, livestreaming the demonstrations in a vivid show of Generation Z anger against the government.
Police in Nairobi fired tear gas and water cannons against protesters near parliament, but apart from isolated scuffles earlier in the day and some groups setting fire to tyres and road signs around dusk, the demonstrations remained mostly peaceful.
The demonstrations — dubbed “Occupy Parliament” — began in Nairobi on Tuesday before spreading nationwide on Thursday.
They have galvanised widespread discontent over President William Ruto’s economic policies in a country grappling with a cost-of-living crisis. Protesters have turned to TikTok, Instagram and X to plan and livestream the demonstrations.
Hours after Tuesday’s action, which saw hundreds of youth face off against the police, the cash-strapped government agreed to roll back several tax hikes laid out in a new bill.
But the government still intends to increase some taxes, defending the proposed levies as necessary for filling its coffers and cutting reliance on external borrowing.
On Thursday, thousands assembled across Nairobi, the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa, the Rift Valley city of Nakuru and the opposition bastion of Kisumu, according to AFP journalists and images broadcast on TV.
Several organisations, including Amnesty International Kenya, said in a statement that at least 135 people were arrested across the country, and at least 200 were injured in the Nairobi.
The Kenyan Red Cross said on X that eight were in critical condition.