On a tense Thursday in Nairobi, Kenya, the city echoed with the sounds of unrest as riot police clashed with hundreds of demonstrators protesting government plans to implement new taxes. Tear gas billowed through the air in Nairobi’s financial district, where protesters aimed to reach parliament buildings, their path blocked by determined officers on mounted units and armed with water cannons.
Similar scenes unfolded across the nation in towns like Nyeri, Nakuru, Eldoret, and Kisumu, where impassioned crowds brandished signs condemning what they perceive as burdensome tax increases. Among the targeted items are car ownership, bread, cooking oil, and financial transactions, seen by protesters as exacerbating an already precarious cost of living for many Kenyans.
The backdrop to these protests is a government effort to secure $2.7 billion through additional taxes, ostensibly to address a pressing budget deficit. However, critics argue that these measures represent economic hardship rather than solutions, intensifying calls for lawmakers to reconsider the controversial finance bill.
As clouds of tear gas lingered and tensions ran high, the protests underscored deep-seated public discontent and the growing frustration over economic policies perceived as out of touch with the daily struggles of ordinary citizens.
#kenya #nairobi #africa #worldnews
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