There is a revolution that is brewing in Kenya at the moment. A revolution that no one saw coming. A revolution that promises to do away with the status quo of the country’s political system. A revolution that is unlike any other in the country’s history.
The recent chain of events started on June 13th. Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Treasury tabled a Ksh 3.992 Trillion (US$ 31.137 Billion)government budget for the 2024/25 financial year in the National Parliament. Kenya’s annual public budget is presented in Parliament in June of every year, and it is meant to present projections for public spending for the following year.
Many Kenyans were quick to point out massive shortcomings with the budget, as it seemed to double down on increased spending on recurrent expenditure by the government. These especially include the payment of salaries and the servicing of debt. Kenya has been under the cosh in recent days, even as the economic climate in the country continues to worsen.
The country has faced unending financial liquidity challenges, particularly in its foreign reserves, which has led to the weakening of the Kenyan currency. Furthermore, despite substantial public spending, the government has struggled to raise additional revenue. The weakening currency and loss in investor confidence mean that economic growth and productivity are slumping to stagnation and possible regression.
To understand the extent of the massive upheaval brewing in Kenya, one needs to understand three things; The Finance Bill, President William Samoei Ruto, and Generation Z. Allow me to expound.
Table of Contents
The Finance Bill.
The Finance Bill is a raft of propositions to Kenya’s fiscal laws, particularly the tax regime, that is tabled, debated, and passed in the National Parliament every year. The subsequent set of laws and law amendments, known as the Finance Act is meant to adapt the government’s revenue collection strategy to the changing economic landscape annually.
The Finance Bill for 2024 was thus, meant to be a continuation of a long-standing precedence. The Bill was tabled in Parliament to much backlash from the public and opposition politicians alike. However, these were just low-level grumblings and hushes, accentuated by the occasional outcry by a pundit to the national audience on national television. Nothing that the perpetrators of the Bill weren’t prepared for.
This Finance Bill is different from those before it. The government is cash-strapped, desperate for money to service its uncontrollable spending habits. Much like a drug addict who cannot seem to let go of their compulsive habits, the government is not keen on first taming its regressive spending behavior.
Read More: Why the Finance Bill of 2024 is such a big deal.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the government looks to increase revenue collection by Ksh 302 Billion (US$ 2.355 Billion), the highest ever year-on-year increase in public spending. Nonetheless, this is despite the fact the growth in revenue collection fell by over 6%, given the tightening fiscal landscape introduced by the Finance Act of 2023. The government has also missed revenue collection targets, by over Ksh 107 Billion (US$0.834 Billion)in 2022/23, and the figure is expected to rise even more for the current financial year.
The Finance Act 2023 introduced a raft of unpopular tax collection mandates, including an Affordable Housing Levy and a Social Health Insurance Fund. It also increased Value Added, Income and Excise Duty taxes on various goods. Many Kenyans were unhappy with these measures. They complained but the government implemented them nonetheless.
The Finance Bill 2024 is threatening to do worse. To squeeze all income accessible to every Kenyan down to the last shilling. It introduces oppressive taxes on basic commodities such as bread, sugar, vegetable sanitary towels, diapers; mobile and telecommunications services, vehicles, and various capital goods in the manufacturing sector. It also raises income tax on employed individuals and introduces punitive withholding tax for self-employed individuals in the digital and creative sectors. Furthermore, it raises capital gains and turnover tax rates which target entrepreneurs and businesses within the country. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
In other words, the government has a financial burden on its back, but it is not willing to shoulder it. Hence why it is seemingly shifting the load to the citizens, without a care in the world about how that affects them.
President William Ruto.
President Ruto has a tumultuous history with Kenya. He was elected in August 2022, an election he won by a narrow margin, amidst the wave of a populist agenda that was at the core of his campaign. He purported to fight for the rights of the ‘hustler’ (a term he used to refer to the common citizen, who sits lowest on the societal pyramid). His manifesto was built upon a ‘Bottom-Up Economic Agenda’, which would place the priorities of the hustlers first, allowing them to be the primary beneficiaries of the country’s economic productivity.
President Ruto is the definition of a cunning politician; the proverbial cat with nine lives, only in Kenya’s political space. He has found ways to survive and remain relevant in Kenya’s politics, playing and riding on a political system that catapulted him to its epitome. His victory in 2022 was the culmination of 30 years of an insidious political journey.
Ruto first became relevant in Kenya’s political space in the early 1990s, during his stint as a youth leader in KANU’s YK92. KANU was the dominant political party in Kenya, led by the then-dictator President Daniel Arap Moi. Moi had recently bowed to external political pressure and had agreed to allow Kenya to transition into a multi-party political state. The air was abuzz with excitement and optimism for a democratic outlook for the country, largely led by a boisterous crop of youthful leaders.
YK92 was KANU’s youth wing at the time. It was Moi’s ploy at keeping his political influence relevant by grooming youthful leaders under his tutelage who would remain subservient to him. Therefore, Ruto benefitted from growing his political know-how under the wings of Moi’s political dogmas. The familiarity and know-how of these become relevant in this story soon.
Ruto grew himself to relevance over the next 15 years. He served as a long-standing Member of Parliament for Eldoret North constituency. When Moi eventually stepped down in 2002, Ruto grew into becoming the new tribal kingpin of the Kalenjin community*. By 2007, he was the undisputed King of the Rift**.
*- Moi and Ruto are from a similar ethnic background
**- The Rift Valley is a region and former province within Kenya where the bulk of the Kalenjin community comes from.
2007 marked an important checkpoint in Kenya’s history as it was the year when the Post-Election Violence happened. Many Kenyans lost their lives in what were ethnic and tribal-fueled clashes. At the heart of these was one William Ruto. He was accused of being involved in the radicalization and perpetuation of violence during the clashes. He was eventually charged in the International Criminal Court (ICC) along with several co-accused. His case at the ICC was eventually dropped in 2016.***
***- Contrary to popular opinion, Ruto was not acquitted of his charges at the ICC. His case was dropped because of a lack of evidence. However, there was a lot of evidence tampering, particularly with the threatening of witnesses on Ruto’s part.
Ruto was involved in a massive cleansing campaign for the next couple of years as he gunned for higher political ambitions in the coming years. He teamed up with one of his co-accused at the ICC, Uhuru Kenyatta (Son of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta) as his running mate to run for the highest office in the land. The duo was elected to office in 2013 and 2017, respectively.
It was during their second term that cracks began to appear in their political outfit. Ruto felt that he was getting sidelined in the affairs of running the country, especially after Uhuru entered into a pact of sorts with Kenya’s longstanding opposition leader, Raila Odinga. The fallout was massive. However, this granted Ruto an opportunity and an abundance of political salvo with which to stack his political movement.
Ruto branded himself as the rejected one. As the one who was sidelined. He spent much of the administration’s second 5-year term, decampaigning his boss, Uhuru whilst stirring up his political outfit within the country. He wanted to show ordinary Kenyans how much he related to being betrayed, and he promised to ‘not be like the rest of them’. He found ways to resonate with the social, political, and economic plight of Kenyans. He even aligned himself with the evangelical Christian community which gained him much favor from the deeply religious Christian masses of the older demographic. He knew how to brand himself for every walk of life.
Many of his followers celebrated fervently when he was elected in 2022. It was the beginning of a bright future for them. Here came a man who had stood up and won against all the odds, promising to transform their lives for the better. For the ‘hustler’ who had for years felt excluded from a slice of the pie, the future could not have looked any brighter. However, it did not take long for Ruto’s true colors to show.
In his first year of power, the economy was already doing worse than it worse during Uhuru’s time. Government expenditure was beyond the roof. Corruption, which has been a nagging migraine in Kenya’s political outfit continued to ravage through the government. Ruto had made big promises about taming corruption, reducing taxes, and curtailing public debt. One year later, these promises were aloof.
On public borrowing alone, Ruto may end up incurring as much debt in 2 years as Uhuru did in 10, with little to show for it.
It is no surprise, therefore, that many Kenyans remain displeased and disgusted by Ruto’s antics, especially as he continues spending big on foreign trips, allowances, and personal income for himself and his crop of trusted cronies.
Generation Z.
We all have an idea of who Generation Zs (Gen Z) are. The word has been used as a catch-all phrase to talk about anyone who was born between 1996 to 2012. However, it can also be used as a reference term for those who are between the teenage years to the age of 30. A huge bulk of Kenya’s youth.
I am a Gen Z, so allow me to narrate this from my perspective. Gen Zs were born into years of relative peace and stability within the country. Other than the 2007 Post Election Violence, the years of our childhood were generally quite uneventful.
When Mwai Kibaki ascended to the Presidency in 2003, he endeavored to set up free primary education, making it mandatory for all children to receive primary education. He also put in place transformative economic measures that contributed to tremendous economic growth for Kenya. By the time his Presidency came to an end in 2013, Kenya was one of the top destinations in the global south for doing business, and this attracted a litany of both foreign and local investment.
It was all not sunshine and roses. Kenya was far from being the regional and international powerhouse it wished to be. However, many of us Gen Zs have witnessed the economic growth of this country and we have grown up yearning to be part of making it better. Kibaki gave us the gift of education, which coupled with the proliferation of the internet and globalization expanded our knowledge of our world. As a result, we are well-informed, open-minded, and reassured about what the world has in store for us and we ought to benefit from it.
We have also grown up hearing from our parents about the horror stories of oppression and heavy-handedness from previous regimes, particularly during the days of Moi. Our parents have placed a lot of hope in us being the generation that liberates this country from the shackles of being an underdeveloped country. Hence the reason for us being inquisitive and innovative as we are convinced that it will take action on our part to oversee the achievement of our dreams. We do not wait for opportunities to be handed down to us. We hunker down and go look for them.
Protests.Purpose.Peace.
Back to the current unfolding of events. It started with a voice raising concerns about the heavy-handed nature of the Finance Bill, 2024. The reading of the budget worsened the situation, as it attracted scrutiny from the public who wanted to know where their hard-earned money was being allocated.
One would have expected that a country going through financial troubles would shoulder more responsibility for how it allocates its public resources. However, the details of the budget revealed a shocking trend of careless and reckless spending by the government.
Government officials continued to allocate themselves more funds. The three top offices i.e. The President, The Deputy President, and Prime Cabinet Secretary have been allocated a total of Ksh 20 Billion (US$ 156 Million) in the current expenditure. For context, that is an amount allocated to a populous county in Kenya, say Nakuru, for example, for a full financial year.
The pattern quickly gets out of hand once you realize that this excessive spending is being replicated across the board. The Chief Controller of Budget, Dr Margaret Nyakang’o has been on the neck of the current administration, questioning why a lot of the public funds are allocated to non-essential expenditures such as foreign travel.
The excessive spending, however, pales in comparison to the biggest financial whirlpool of them all, budgeted corruption.
During the budgeting process, the lawmakers will insert inflated costs for infrastructural projects and the supply of goods and services to the government. These legislators will then create companies in their names, award the tenders to these companies (essentially themselves), and pocket the money. The government budget becomes a cash cow for them to reward themselves for being in power, which allows them to gather up much wealth and affluence at the expense of the people.
These corruption scandals are unending. The news is always awash with reports of these new scandals; from the Anglo-leasing to Goldenberg during Kibaki’s time, to NYS and Galana-Kulalu during Uhuru’s tenure to the Oil Importation, Fertilizer Subsidy and Condemned Sugar scams that have been documented in just two years or Ruto’s presidency.
The biggest chunk of Kenya’s politicians are corrupt. But Ruto and his cronies make everyone else look like a saint.
These scandals cost the taxpayer billions every year. That is notwithstanding the other antics of public looting employed by government officials. From employing and paying ghost workers to the outright bribing and extortion undertaken in government offices.
Did I mention that it takes an average of 6 months to apply for and get a Kenyan passport? However, greasing some palms will get you one in less than 5 days.
Also, I am yet to understand why one has to pay Ksh 300 (US$ 2) to obtain a national ID once they attain legal age. That may not seem like much, but in a low-income country such as Kenya, that is the equivalent of a day’s wage. Citizenship is a right granted to everyone regardless of their ethnicity, economic well-being, or income status.
On Thursday 20th June 2024, the Members of Parliament voted on approving the Finance Bill. We, the Gen Zs had taken to the streets on a mission to get to Parliament and make our voices heard concerning the reprehensive nature of the Bill. However, an armed contingent of anti-riot police barricaded the premises and prevented us from getting there. Nonetheless, we did not relent. We made sure that we were loud enough, that we were within earshot of the MPs voting on the Bill.
The results were as expected. 204 MPs voted in favor of the Bill. 115 voted against it. Ruto has huge sway over the Parliament. Upon his ascendency to power in 2022, he made sure to buy off many opposition legislators with favors and cash bribes. Many ditched their roles in the opposition and joined the William Ruto bandwagon at the Statehouse. Only a few have dared to stand up to and question Ruto.
It is alleged that all MPs who voted in favor of the Bill were given a KSh 2 Million (US$ 15,500) cash bribe by Ruto. That is preposterous coming from a government that claims to be short on money.
For many years, we the Gen Zs (and millennials to a great extent) have watched these cyclical patterns in our country getting pillaged by the elite political class. For many years, we grew detached from the political affairs of our country, as there was nothing in them for us. We frankly could not care less. Times have changed, however.
There has been a silent level of dissent and dissatisfaction with the political class of the country, particularly with the younger generations. As we grow into becoming adult citizens, we continuously witness, much to our dismay how politicians enrich themselves at our behest, denying us the opportunities to make our lives better. Our country is being destroyed from the inside out, and we have been quick to realize that we will be left to shoulder the burden of it all.
Back in 2022, a huge number of young people did not show up to vote in the General Elections. Many assume that this was from a point of being ignorant and careless. However, many of us felt hopeless with the political system. What good was it for us, if the only thing we achieved with elections was in putting the same crop of political swindlers to steal from us for another 5 years? Ruto or Odinga, it didn’t matter. Voting for either one would not put food on my table.
The Kenyan youth have been watching quietly for years. Paying attention to the patterns of lies, theft, and mismanagement perpetuated by the political classes. Feeling shortchanged at every turn. Harboring feelings of frustration, anger, and disgust at what they see. The tension had been building up, silently for years. No one saw it coming. All it needed was a trigger.
The #RejectFinanceBill2024 and #OccupyParliament started as hashtags on social media (especially on X and TikTok), with young people venting out their outright rejection of the counterproductive economic measures proposed in the government’s fiscal strategy. However, as more young people joined in on the conversation, the mutual feelings of dissent and disapproval became apparent.
A peaceful protest was planned on Tuesday, 18th June. The administration responded by aggressively quashing the peaceful youthful protestors. That angered the Gen Z’s even more. So even more turned up to protest on Thursday, 20th June to protest against the MPs voting in favor of the Finance Bill. The government still would not relent. So the youth are angered even more. The pattern continues.
Read More: How a Generation of young people stood up to an oppressive Finance Bill.
#RejectFinanceBill2024 was the spark the started the fire. Now the whole forest must be burnt down!
Brute Force.
No one saw this coming. Not even the Gen Zs who are the ‘main perpetrators’ of this revolt. However, it does not take much for a revolutionary movement to take hold. As quickly as this movement started, it spread out and grew in mass.
Ruto’s government has been pushing back on us. When the first round of protests happened on Tuesday, 18th June, many in his administration admonished the youth for daring to stand up for what is right. Ruto’s cronies continually branded us as being young and uninformed about the ‘good things’ that the government is planning for us in the Finance Bill.
Some even dared to call the protests fake and fake news that was circulated on social media. Donald Trump would have been proud.
It should be noted that the right to peacefully protest and picket is protected under Article 37 of the Kenyan Constitution.
Ruto himself has openly claimed to be open to criticism in the past. However, as it should be painfully obvious by now, this man is a pathological liar as well. He cannot be trusted.
On Thursday, 20th June, however, things got serious. Unlike the protests on Tuesday, the number of youths involved was substantially larger. The entirety of Nairobi CBD was filled with young people who had come out in mass to express their public displeasure with the government. The police force teargassed the life out of us, but we kept going. It was about Ruto and his government read the room.
Read the room they did. Suddenly, everyone seemed ‘open to dialogue’ with Gen Zs to find ways to ‘amend’ the Bill. These politicians went all over the country ‘congratulating’ us for finally finding our voices. Ruto even offered to invite some of the ‘leaders’ of this movement to iron out differences and seek a ‘resolution’ to the matter.
On the other hand, however, the government through its rogue police force has been kidnapping and abducting influencers and tweeps with a huge following (especially on X) who have been at the forefront of this movement.
However, there are two things that this government ought to be aware of. Firstly, this is an organic revolution that only so happens to be coordinated through social media. There are no leaders and faces to it that the government can use to silence us. For every one of the people they abduct and take away, another rises in their stead. And each of those they abduct comes back stronger. The more they push back against us, the stronger our resolve becomes.
Ruto has studied a lot from Moi’s playbook. He knows that the sure way to kill off a political movement is by buying off or imprisoning its leaders. However, this is not a political movement. Hence why there are no leaders.
Also, we are not funded by Russia. Nor are we part of the Illuminati. Or any other covert organization with nefarious motives.
This movement is faceless and unquenchable; it spreads like a cancerous tumor. Time ran out for the government when the revolution began.
Secondly, there is no time or room for negotiation. The young people are tired of being in bed with an oppressive political class. Now is the time for a system change; the country needs a system of leadership that will work for the needs of the people, not satisfy the egos and pockets of a few.
How much longer shall we continue to remain unemployed in our own country? How much longer shall we live with a regime that does not listen to the needs of its people?
The youth have spoken. The youth represents the vast majority of this country. Gen Zs and Millenials make up 55% of Kenya’s 54 million people. Add in the Gen Alphas expands those numbers even more. Therefore, the voices of young people should be respected.
At the end of the day, the minority may have their say but the majority have their way.
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