Lessons from Kenya protests

This week, young Kenyans poured into the streets of Nairobi in big numbers to protest the high cost of living and taxes they said were too much to bear.

Using social media, the youth mobilised hundreds of their folk in protests in which lives were lost, scores were injured, and property worth millions was destroyed.

Protesters had demanded that legislators vote against a finance Bill imposing new taxes.

In neighbouring Tanzania, the traders held a strike, which started in Dar es Salaam’s Kariakoo district, a popular market area in the country and one of the busiest in East Africa on Monday, spreading to other parts of the country in what they called unfair multiple taxes and collection methods executed by the Tanzania Revenue Authority.

The fact that the strike in Kenya has forced President Ruto to shelve the Bill shows the growing influence of young people in the affairs of their countries, yet their voices and concerns are rarely included in the top decision-making.

Another lesson learnt is that the cost of living has reached high levels and the citizens can no longer shoulder the growing appetite to borrow and spend, majorly on luxuries, by the leadership. Wide consultations in the tax process and tax education would ensure acceptance of the tax proposals before they are included in the budget. However, most citizens of the region meet the taxes in the final documents at the passing or implementation level.

The strike also shows a growing gap between the leadership and the general population in which the citizens have lost faith and trust in the leadership.

In Uganda, reports on corruption in Parliament have further demoralised the people, whose taxes must sustain the legislators.

The leadership must now look for ways of including the citizens in decision-making concerning affairs of the countries, must act in good faith and not be seen as exploiting the people, and must be concerned about the cost of living and the struggles people go through to sustain their lives, and must avoid corruption and living luxurious lives at the expense of the people.

We are in a period where majority of the people are young people, with the energy, mobilisation tools at their disposal and have nothing to lose and, therefore will be ready to act on emotions, the result being destruction. Leaders must take the lessons seriously.

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