President William Ruto has finally given in to pressure and withdrawn the Finance Bill 2024.
Protests against the contentious Bill took an ugly turn on Tuesday when police officers teargassed the demonstrators.
Youth in the Generation Z age cohort, who are in the vanguard of the protests, warned last week that they would lay siege to Parliament in a bid to stop MPs from passing the Bill.
The protesters actualised their threat to occupy Parliament when they outmanoeuvred security officers in day-long running battles and stormed the House.
They went ahead to set sections of the August House on fire. Parliament’s canteen was vandalised and a lot of property destroyed. This was unprecedented, yet the clearest indicator that the youths were determined.
The protestors also torched a section of City Hall and caused general destruction to property, not just in Nairobi, but across the country.
Although the President has made the right decision, he has done so too late when precious lives of young people have been snuffed out by police bullets and property destroyed countrywide.
The mayhem could have been averted had the President ordered the Bill withdrawn immediately it became apparent that the majority of Kenyans were opposed to it. But he was not alone, most MPs ignored requests by the electorate to shoot down the Bill when it went to Parliament infuriating the public further.
Most of the MPs talked down on voters in the most condescending manner, and that further inflamed public passion. The situation in the country would not have degenerated so much had the President, MPs, Cabinet secretaries and economic advisors listened to public concerns over the Finance Bill.
Lives have been lost, property destroyed and the economy brought to a standstill because of individuals who have been unwilling to listen to the voices of reason. Truth be said, 349 MPs cannot be more intelligent than the 54 million Kenyans. In democracy, it is the majority who carry the day.
That said, we demand investigations into the conduct of security personnel during these protests. Besides the killings and brutality that was meted on unarmed protesters in Parliament, police officers were said to have unleashed terror in Githurai, Nairobi, where unconfirmed reports say tens of residents were shot and killed. Ironically, while addressing the nation yesterday, the President who had a day before branded the protesters ‘criminals’ who had committed ‘treasonous’ acts, claimed that no extra-judicial killings had been committed under his watch. Isn’t shooting a protester whose only weapon is smartphone extra-judicial killing, Mr President?
The decision to deploy military officers to the streets could make matters worse and worsen human rights abuses. If government cares about the people, it must listen to them and not shove unpopular policies down their throats through the barrel of the gun.
Kenyans must have a say in how they are governed. Where they do not approve of certain measures, their concerns should not be swept under the carpet as this government and those before it have done with impunity.
