Hundreds of demonstrators marched through cities across Kenya on Thursday to protest against plans to raise $2.7 billion in additional taxes to reduce the budget deficit.
Protesters say the tax rises will hurt the economy and raise the cost of living for Kenyans who are already struggling to make ends meet.
A Kenyan parliamentary panel on Tuesday urged the government to scrap some new taxes proposed in its finance bill, including new ones on car ownership, bread, cooking oil, and financial transactions.
Riot police fired tear gas to disburse pockets of protesters in the financial district of the capital Nairobi and blocked their path to parliament.
Demonstrators in towns and cities, including Nyeri, Nakuru, Eldoret, and Kisumu, called for lawmakers to drop the bill and waved placards with slogans like “We say no to economic dictatorship.”
The International Monetary Fund has urged the government to increase revenues in its 2024/25 budget to reduce state borrowing.
