THE streets of Kenya have been smeared with the blood of its citizens. Essentially, Kenyan youth are protesting the financial bill introduced by President William Ruto. The bill, which imposes high taxes on commodities, fuel prices, sanitary pads, and export duties, is seen as stifling in the face of shabby living standards.
After weeks of peaceful marches against the proposed law, protesters ransacked the parliament on Tuesday in Nairobi. This led Ruto to deploy the police and the military to quell it. The police reportedly killed 13 and injured many protesters. The brutalisation of citizens is outrightly condemnable. Beyond trading blame, the security heads involved should be sanctioned.
Although Ruto has withdrawn the bill and has blamed security forces for providing false intelligence, the situation underscores the absence of true democratic values in Africa.
The crisis centres on the economy. With a $113.4 billion GDP and a population of 54.03 million, the government stated that it is indebted and cash-strapped. To manage its $78 billion debt, it considered increasing taxes.
The government lamented that the country would have a budget deficit of $31.1 billion if it rolled back on its tax hike policy. This is compounded by the International Monetary Fund’s recommendation that it should broaden the domestic tax base, improve tax compliance, and impose a tighter fiscal stance to reduce debt vulnerabilities.
Unfortunately, most African leaders mismanage their country’s economies, inflicting hardship on the people. Citizens bear the brunt of their reckless domestic and international loans. African citizens should use the ballot to vote bad and underperforming governments out of power.
They should take lessons from the United Kingdom, France, and other climes. In the UK, ex-Prime Minister, Lizz Truss, resigned after 45 days in office due to public criticism of her economic policies. In France, the electorate showed its grievances in the recent European Parliamentary elections by displacing the ruling Renaissance Party, leading President Emmanuel Macron to call for a snap election.
The Ruto government rode on the back of pro-worker aspirations to power but began to renege as soon as it settled in. Although he assumed power when Kenya was plagued by rising food and fuel prices, high unemployment, and a worrying debt burden, Ruto promised to revamp an economy plagued by corruption and inefficiencies.
He campaigned to instil good governance and put the poor at the centre of economic policy. The promises include funding for small and medium-scale enterprises, providing affordable financing for persons with disabilities, affordable housing, reducing the cost of food prices, and free internet calls.
Despite promising to tackle inflation, and reduce the price of commodities, Ruto had lamented having no control over them.
According to a Kenyan non-partisan manifesto tracker, Mzalendo, out of 120 promises made, only 13 have been achieved. Statistics say 119 are ongoing, 10 are stalled, and 22 are broken.
Like many African countries, Kenya is tied to the apron strings of the IMF. African countries often lack the ideological backbone to forge a clear vision and provide democratic dividends.
Nigeria is a classic example of a country that has continued to reel from past advisories of the IMF. The Structural Adjustment Programme of the 1990s destroyed domestic manufacturing and entrenched imports. The Bola Tinubu administration hurriedly declared the removal of the petrol subsidy and flotation of the naira exchange rates based on the advisory of the Bretton Woods institution. This has impoverished Nigerians, stifled the economy, and led to job losses as multinationals divest. IMF’s one-size-fits-all policy for Africa has undermined growth.
Therefore, African leaders should implement homegrown policies to grow their economies. They should stop acceding to international financial agencies to the detriment of their citizens.