Kenyan President Vows to Prevent Violence ‘At Whatever Cost’ (2024)

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Here’s the latest on the protests in Kenya.

“Today’s events mark a critical turning point on how we respond to grave threats to our national security,” Mr. Ruto said in an address to the nation. “The government has mobilized all resources at the nation’s disposal to ensure that a situation of this nature will not recur again, at whatever cost.”

Thousands of demonstrators had flooded the streets around the Parliament, some draped in the Kenyan flag and blowing whistles or chanting for the country’s president to resign. A video posted to social media by the independent Kenya Human Rights Commission showed police firing as protesters marched toward them.

In a joint statement, the ambassadors of 13 Western embassies in Kenya, including the United States, said they were “shocked” by the scenes of violence.

The turmoil over the finance bill, which includes the tax hikes, has shaken Kenya, an East African economic powerhouse of 54 million people that has long been an anchor of stability in a tumultuous region. In protests across the country last week, at least one person was killed and 200 others were injured, according to Amnesty International.

The contentious bill was introduced by the Ruto government in May to raise revenue and limit borrowing in an economy facing a heavy debt burden. But Kenyans have widely criticized the legislation, saying it adds punitive new taxes and raises others on a wide range of goods and services that would escalate living costs. The detractors also pointed to corruption and mismanagement of funds.

The president now has two weeks to sign the legislation into law or send it back to Parliament for further amendments.

Here’s what else to know:

• Before Tuesday’s protests, several activists who are prominent critics of the bill were abducted, according to the Law Society of Kenya. The abductors’ identities were not publicly known, but some were believed to be intelligence officers, said the Law Society’s president, Faith Odhiambo. Ms. Odhiambo later said that some of those abducted had been released.

• CNN aired footage of the half sister of former President Barack Obama, Auma Obama, being tear-gassed as she was interviewed about her opposition to the bill.

• The protests have largely been guided by younger people who have used social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to initiate a leaderless movement that has galvanized the nation.

• The protests come as an initial group of 400 Kenyan police officers is arriving in Haiti for help to stop the rampant gang violence that has upended the Caribbean nation, an effort largely organized by the Biden administration.

What to know about the violent protests in Kenya.

In recent days, the government has been accused of abducting critics, making mass arrests around the country to quell unrest and using force that caused brutal injuries and at least one death.

Typically a regional bastion of economic security, Kenya has a population of over 54 million. Many of its young people have used technology and social media to organize opposition to the government that they say transcends ethnicities, tribes, races and socioeconomic class.

Here is what we know about the contentious legislation that set off Tuesday’s clashes.

What will the tax bill do?

The Ruto government presented Finance Bill 2024 to Parliament in May in what it framed as an effort to increase revenue to help the country deal with immense debt in its borrowing-based economy.

Initially, the bill called for taxes on essentials like bread, cooking oil and cars, but public backlash caused lawmakers to roll some levies back. However, the rollbacks failed to derail public protests.

On Tuesday, Parliament passed the bill. It is expected to increase taxes on imported goods — including some basics, like eggs, from nearby East African nations — as well as on phone and internet usage, bank transfer fees and digitally operated businesses.

What does the opposition say?

Critics of the bill say it will drive up the cost of goods for consumers in a nation already grappling with a high cost of living.

The overall opposition speaks to a trend across Africa, where young people are increasingly bearing the brunt of rising unemployment, and all Kenyans are suffering under high prices driven in part by the coronavirus pandemic and trade disturbances from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In Kenya, an additional factor is the burden of a huge national debt.

Anger and resentment toward President William Ruto, who campaigned on the promise of raising living standards for those in poverty, have inflamed an increasingly dissatisfied public. Mr. Ruto’s government previously raised health insurance and electricity costs, which, coupled with natural disasters, led to demonstrations last year that human rights groups say killed 57.

Kenyans “feel increasingly squeezed by disappearing subsidies and increasing taxes, and misled by a government that campaigned on a message about economic empowerment but has governed with a message about austerity,” said Michelle Gavin, a senior fellow for Africa policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“All of this is happening in the midst of inadequate employment opportunities and the spectacle of ongoing corruption among political elites,” she added. “The Finance Bill has a ‘last straw’ quality about it.”

Mr. Ruto’s luxury lifestyle has been a particular focus of dissent, with critics drawing contrasts to the impoverished members of the public who would be most affected by the pending tax hikes.

Less than a month ago, the White House hosted Mr. Ruto for a state dinner, hoping to bolster the shaky balance of U.S. alliances in Africa. On Monday, Mr. Ruto sent a first contingent of Kenyan police officers to Haiti as part of a Biden administration-led plan to stifle gang violence in Haiti, a deployment that drew domestic criticism. Some questioned whether the Kenyan police, who have a history of brutality, were fit for such a mission.

The Kenyan police have long been accused by rights groups of cracking down on protesters with harsh methods and extrajudicial killings at police stations.

What happens next?

President Ruto has two weeks to either sign the bill into law or send it back to Parliament for amendments.

In a public address on Tuesday evening, Mr. Ruto called the protests “treasonous” and an “existential threat” to the nation and said that the government had “mobilized all resources at the nation’s disposal to ensure that a situation of this nature will not recur again, at whatever cost.”

Aden Duale, Kenya’s defense minister, said the military was assisting the police.

A joint statement made by the embassies of 13 Western nations, including the United States, said they were “shocked” at the violence and “deeply concerned” about allegations that protesters had been abducted. They called for “restraint on all sides.”

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The turmoil in Nairobi is a blow to Biden’s embrace of Kenya’s president.

The non-NATO ally designation, which clears the way for greater security cooperation between Kenya and the United States, was one of the main outcomes of Mr. Ruto’s state visit to Washington last month, the first by an African leader in 16 years. At the White House, the Kenyan leader was feted with a state dinner that included celebrity guests and former President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan.

For Mr. Ruto, the state visit was the high point of a globe-trotting presidency. He has visited dozens of countries since being declared the winner of a fiercely contested presidential election in August 2022. For the Biden administration, it was an opportunity to cement a major relationship in Africa at a time when rivals like Russia and China have expanded their influence.

However, Mr. Ruto’s domestic support has plummeted over tough economic measures that he said were necessary to get Kenya’s ailing national finances back on track. Many Kenyans, particularly from the middle classes, felt they were being forced to pay more than their fair share — especially as Mr. Ruto’s government showed few signs of cracking down on the top level corruption that has plagued Kenyan governments for decades.

The discontent set off days of protests that reached a nadir with the turmoil on Tuesday, when police fired tear gas and weapons during protests near Parliament in Nairobi. Amnesty International and several civic groups said that at least five people were killed.

At a news conference in Washington on Tuesday, Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, condemned the violence, saying, “We mourn the loss of life and injuries sustained and offer our condolences to the families who lost loved ones. We urge restraint to restore order and provide space for dialogue.”

And the U.S. Embassy in Kenya joined with 12 other Western embassies to release a statement on Tuesday saying that they were “shocked” by the scenes around Kenya’s Parliament and “deeply concerned” by allegations that some protesters had been abducted by the security forces. The statement called for “restraint on all sides.”

Mr. Ruto enjoys a famously close relationship with the U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, a former American business executive who last summer accompanied him on a tour of Silicon Valley that included visits to Google, Apple and Intel.

Ms. Whitman, a former C.E.O. at Hewlett-Packard and eBay, has become a vocal advocate for American businesses to set up in Kenya, a thriving hub of tech startups and innovation sometimes called Africa’s Silicon Savannah.

American and Kenyan officials say that Mr. Ruto and Ms. Whitman often speak informally on the phone, sometimes with little notice. Ms. Whitman has drawn strong criticism from Kenyan opposition leaders who say she shows Mr. Ruto excessive favor.

“I want to tell the rogue ambassador, leave Kenyans alone,” Raila Odinga, a veteran opposition leader who lost the contested 2022 election to Mr. Ruto, said last August.

Mr. Ruto had also won support from Western nations for his strong advocacy of radical reforms to the international financial system, and more debt relief, to spur economic growth across Africa.

He has pushed for greater African representation at the top of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which are dominated by rich countries, and for inward investment by companies that can take advantage of the massive renewable energy in countries like Kenya.

Until recently, he seemed to be getting places: During Mr. Ruto’s Washington visit, Microsoft and an Emirati artificial intelligence firm, G42, said they would invest $1 billion in a green data center in Kenya, the country’s largest ever digital investment.

Michael Levenson contributed reporting.

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High living costs are straining even Africa’s most stable economies.

The Kenyan government has said the tax increases are necessary to pay off the country’s crippling debt and avoid default.

East Africa has the fastest growing economy of any region in Africa, where economies show growth on a large scale. However, in many places, including Kenya, benefits have not trickled down to the average person.

Inflation across Africa has risen at an average of nearly 18 percent, the highest in more than a decade, according to figures from the African Development Bank. International shocks, like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a growing climate crisis, have hampered agricultural production and increased food prices, sending inflation climbing, the regional bank said.

These pressures have rocked some of the continent’s most stable and most promising economies. Nigeria, once Africa’s largest economy and the focus of praise for innovation, is buckling under the worst economic crisis in decades. Inflation has skyrocketed and the national currency, the naira, is in freefall. The cost of basic food items have become so high that markets have seen pockets of protest and even stampedes.

In southern Africa, Zambia, is struggling to avoid default on a massive debt and enmeshed in a cost-of-living crisis. Costs for fuel and basic food items, like maize meal, are high, and rolling electricity blackouts have become common. In May, the country’s currency, the kwacha, plummeted to a record low against the dollar, pushing import costs even higher.

The economic crisis has dimmed the hope that Zambians and the international community had placed in President Hakainde Hichilema, a businessman turned politician. Critics and civil society organizations have warned that the economic crisis is a ticking time bomb.

In South Africa, the most advanced economy in Africa, the economy was a dominant issue for many voters in May elections. Rolling blackouts and record unemployment, especially among the young, were among the issues prompting voters to punish the governing African National Congress at the polls, with the party earning its lowest majority yet.

Weaker economies are even more vulnerable to these shocks. In Cameroon, a West African nation already divided by internal strife, impoverished communities are struggling to put food on the table as food and fuel prices increase.

In its economic outlook for this year, the African Development Bank warned that “internal conflicts and violence could also result from rising prices for fuel and other commodities.”

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The Kenyan police have a bloody past, and the present faces the force with challenges at home and abroad.

It was the very day a contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti to lead a mission to restore order in the gang-ravaged Caribbean nation, a deployment that activists and human rights groups, citing the police’s history of abuse and unlawful killings, have roundly denounced.

The Kenyan police force is an extension of a colonial-era creation that the British used to control the population and stamp out dissent. During the 1950s, as Kenyans began to assert their right to rule themselves, the police and other British-run security services rounded up tens of thousands of Kenyans and hanged more than a thousand. It was an especially disturbing chapter of British rule, detailed in a prizewinning book, “Imperial Reckoning.”

Kenya’s independence in 1963 didn’t dramatically change policing. The police, and especially the paramilitary wing called the General Services Unit and another group known as the Flying Squad, became dreaded characters, known for quick trigger fingers and wide impunity.

In the summer of 1990, Kenyans held one of their first major pro-democracy protests. Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Nairobi, calling for an end to the dictatorship that then ruled the country. The police responded by shooting dozens of them.

During an election crisis in 2007 and early 2008, police officers killed dozens of protesters. There were even instances of officers seen on television fatally shooting unarmed demonstrators.

In 2009, the United Nations sent a special rapporteur, Philip Alston, to Kenya to investigate the situation. The report he delivered was a bombshell. “Police in Kenya frequently execute individuals,” the report said. “Most troubling is the existence of police death squads.”

The Kenyan government vowed to revamp the services, and it set up an independent police watchdog. Western donors, especially the United States, pumped millions of dollars into training and other programs. The focus was to help make the Kenyan police more accountable and more effective at countering terrorism. Crowd control and the use of nonlethal methods was not the priority.

Last year, in the first round of anti-tax protests in Kenya, at least nine people were killed during rowdy demonstrations and their violent suppression, according to a human rights commission and news reports.

In July 2023, the government of President William Ruto agreed Kenya’s police would lead the mission to Haiti, with backing from Washington. The United Nations Security Council authorized the mission in October that year.

Kenyan courts sought to block the deployment, as activists and human rights groups shared their profound misgivings.

“Our concern is that this is not the quality policing we should be exporting to Haiti,” Irungu Houghton, the executive director for Amnesty International Kenya, said at the time.

But Mr. Ruto, who has sought to increase his standing with the U.S. government, did not waver, saying that Haiti’s worsening crisis was a call to “serve humanity.” And his foreign minister, Alfred N. Mutua, has pointed to Kenya’s history of leadership on peacekeeping missions to East Timor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone and Namibia, as well as ongoing deployments in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On Monday, in an address to the police officers leaving for Haiti, Mr. Ruto said: “You are undertaking a vital mission that transcends borders and cultures. Your presence in Haiti will bring hope and relief to communities torn apart by violence and ravaged by disorder.”

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A half sister of Barack Obama is among those tear-gassed during protests in Nairobi.

“I am here because — look at what’s happening,” she told the interviewer. “Young Kenyans are demonstrating for their rights. They are demonstrating with flags and banners.”

Ms. Obama then began choking in a spreading cloud of tear gas lobbed by the police.

“I can’t even see anymore,” she said. “We are being tear-gassed.”

Ms. Obama grew up in Kenya and returned there as a community activist after studying and living in Germany and the United Kingdom. Her foundation in Kenya, Sauti Kuu, or Powerful Voices, serves children and young people, particularly from urban slums and rural communities.

Ms. Obama had earlier posted photos of herself at the protest on social media. As thousands marched to Parliament, police used tear gas and water cannons and opened fire. At least five people were killed and 31 people were wounded, according to several civic groups.

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The protests in Kenya have been driven by younger people.

“The politicians have for too long underestimated our power, energy and passion,” said Muchiri Mike, a 25-year-old content creator. “We are now asking questions and demanding answers, and they are surprised by this revolution happening at their doorsteps.”

Young Kenyans say that their movement transcends class, tribe or race, and that it is focused on helping millions of people attain economic security and social equality.

Besides organizing protests in almost three dozen counties across Kenya, young people have translated the bill into several local languages and used the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to simplify it. They have employed crowdsourcing to collect the contact information for lawmakers and urged constituents to call them about the bill.

They have also confronted officials at public gatherings and in houses of worship to show their displeasure, and have carried coffins to the offices of some lawmakers who support the legislation.

On Saturday night, nightclubs across Kenya played the national anthem to rally against the finance bill, and on Sunday church leaders and congregants raised their opposition to the tax bill at services.

Government officials have blamed unspecified foreign powers for stirring up the protests. And Parliament’s majority leader, Kimani Ichung’wah, dismissed the demonstrators as privileged youngsters who wield iPhones, arrive at demonstrations via Uber and then go eat at KFC.

Protesters hit back against that description. “It’s not about how we get to the protests, but why we are here in the streets,” said Anita Barasa, 19, whose TikTok videos about the demonstrations have gained a strong following. “They are trying to take attention away from our demands, but we, the cool kids, are seeing that we don’t have a bright future and want change.”

As tensions mounted over the bill in the past few days, some politicians praised the young protesters for taking a keen interest in the country’s future. At a church service on Sunday, President Ruto said he was “proud” of the demonstrating youth and promised to “have a conversation so that together we can build a great nation.”

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Kenyan-led forces arrive in Haiti after months of gang violence.

The officers are part of a deployment of officers from eight nations who will fan out across the capital to try to wrest control of the city from dozens of armed groups that have attacked police stations, freed prisoners and killed with impunity.

The arrival of an initial group of 400 Kenyan officers came on a day of intense and deadly violence in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, as the police clashed with demonstrators protesting a tax bill that would increase taxes on many basics.

Some security experts say the Kenyan officers face a significant challenge supporting Haiti’s police and facing off with well-armed and highly organized Haitian gangs that have seized control of much of Port-au-Prince and had vowed to fight the Kenyans.

Kenya’s police also have a checkered history back home, accused by human rights groups of killing and abusing civilians, raising concerns about their actions in Haiti.

Since Haiti’s appeal for international help went out in October 2022, more than 7,500 people have been killed by violence — over 2,500 people so far this year alone, the United Nations said.

With a weakened national government and the Haitian presidency vacant, dozens of gangs have put up roadblocks, kidnapped and killed civilians, and attacked entire neighborhoods. About 200,000 people were forced from their homes between March and May, according to the United Nations.

The Kenyans in Haiti are the first to deploy of an expected 2,500-member force, an effort largely organized by the Biden administration.

“You are undertaking a vital mission that transcends borders and cultures,” President William Ruto of Kenya told the officers on Monday before they left.

President Biden on Tuesday welcomed the deployment.

“Haiti’s future depends on the return to democratic governance,’’ he said in a statement. “While these goals may not be accomplished overnight, this mission provides the best chance of achieving them.”

The officers are expected to tackle a long list of priorities, including retaking control of the country’s main port and freeing major highways from criminal groups that demand money from drivers.

“Gang checkpoints on these roads are also a major source of their income,” said William O’Neill, the U.N.’s human rights expert on Haiti.

“While much delayed, the arrival of the Kenyans comes at a good time,” particularly since a new police chief and prime minister have been named in recent weeks, he said.

The United States has provided many of the mission’s supplies, rushing to find armored vehicles and other equipment.

“The Kenyans do not want to be one of these missions that show up on the ground and, for a month, they never leave their base,” Dennis B. Hankins, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, said in an interview.

The Kenyans, he added, will need to “support” the Haitian police, but not replace them, so that when the mission ends their departure doesn’t create “a security vacuum.”

Officially called the Multinational Security Support Mission, the deployment is expected to last at least a year, according to the U.S. government. Sanctioned by the U.N. and mostly financed by the United States, its goal is to support the Haitian police and establish enough stability so the transitional government can set up elections to choose a new president, as well as members of Parliament.

The U.S. military has flown more than 90 flights into Haiti ahead of the mission, carrying more than 2,600 tons of supplies. Civilian contractors have been building sleeping quarters for the Kenyan officers at the Port-au-Prince airport.

In May, Haitian government officials began clearing the airport perimeter of hundreds of houses, which had made it easier for gangs to hide and fire at aircraft, forcing the airfield to close. The airport has reopened to commercial flights.

The gangs, the ambassador added, did not fight back while preparations at the airport were made, a sign that perhaps they may not be willing to engage in direct combat with specialized forces, he said.

“As soon as we got the airport open and functional and we started seeing military flights, that had a real significant psychological impact on the population,” Mr. Hankins said.

Many experts say that beyond security Haiti needs a comprehensive plan to address the root causes of its governance problems.

After Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to resign in late April, it took several weeks for political parties to agree on who would serve on a new transitional presidential council.

It was a full month before a replacement for Mr. Henry took office.

Garry Conille, a former U.N. official, accepted the post in late May.

During a news conference on Tuesday, where he was joined by Kenya’s foreign minister, Monica Juma, Mr. Conille directed comments to gang leaders who have wreaked havoc on Haiti.

“You are also tired of this situation, even when it is you who created it,” he said. “Enough is enough.”

So far, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Chad, Jamaica and Kenya have officially offered personnel for the mission.

But the mission has not received much financial commitment.

While Kenyan officials estimate the cost will run up to $600 million, a U.N. fund to pay for it has only $21 million. The United States has pledged more than $300 million to finance the mission.

The United States, Canada and France — Haiti’s biggest benefactors and allies — were unwilling to send troops of their own to Haiti.

Kenya was the first nation to publicly offer to do so. Many experts believed the mission would be more welcomed if was led by an African nation.

Experts say that Mr. Ruto, who won the presidency in 2022 after a closely contested election, was using the deployment to further boost his profile on the global stage.

The deployment comes even as Mr. Ruto faces widespread protests nationwide against a finance bill that critics say will increase the already high cost of living.

On Tuesday, the police fired tear gas and shots were heard as thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets around Kenya’s Parliament in Nairobi. Human rights advocates said that at least five people were killed and over 30 others wounded.

At a police camp in Nairobi, officers have undergone physical and weapons training and received new helmets and body armor, according to interviews with officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak publicly to reporters.

They have also taken intensive French and Creole courses.

Beyond protecting key infrastructure, the officers at some point will be expected to secure the presidential palace, which remains in shambles after a 2010 earthquake but continues to be a symbolic place of power in Haiti.

But the contingent of 400 that arrived Tuesday is just a small step toward a large operation that will require many more people and resources to be effective, said Gédéon Jean, the executive director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, a Haitian organization that was forced to suspend its operations because of rising violence.

“So much remains to be done,” Mr. Jean said.

The initial group is likely to “play it safe” at the start, but even as more officers arrive from other countries, their task will be daunting, particularly since they have not worked together before, do not speak the same languages or have a shared “operational framework,” said Sophie Rutenbar, a visiting scholar at the New York University Center on International Cooperation who has worked in Haiti.

“The early deployment of this force is going to be very vulnerable,” Ms. Rutenbar said.

Eugene Chen, a former U.N. official who follows Haiti closely, said the international mission seemed to emerge out of a desperation to do something. Without finding ways to support Haiti’s political process, the mission could exacerbate the violence, Mr. Chen said.

“It’s not clear,” Mr. Chen added, “that this is the right answer.”

Andre Paultre contributed reporting from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and David C. Adams from Miami.

Despite days of protests, Kenyan lawmakers pass contentious tax increases.

The debate over the bill has shaken Kenya, an East African economic powerhouse of 54 million people that has long been an anchor of stability in a deeply tumultuous region. Protesters have taken to the streets in cities around the country for days. As thousands protested over the tax increases across the country last week, at least one person was killed and 200 others were injured, according to Amnesty International.

On Tuesday, CNN aired footage of the half-sister of former U.S. President Barack Obama, Auma Obama, being tear-gassed as she was interviewed about her opposition to the bill.

The contentious bill was introduced by the government of President William Ruto in May to raise revenue and limit borrowing in an economy facing a heavy debt burden. But Kenyans have widely criticized the legislation, saying it adds punitive new taxes and raises others on a wide range of goods and services that would escalate living costs.

The president now has two weeks to sign the legislation into law or send it back to Parliament for further amendments.

Before Tuesday’s demonstration, several activists who are prominent critics of the bill were abducted, according to the Law Society of Kenya. The abductors’ identities were not publicly known, but some were believed to be intelligence officers, said the Law Society’s president, Faith Odhiambo. Ms. Odhiambo later said that some of those abducted had been released.

Rights groups have long accused successive Kenyan governments of kidnapping critics and torturing them. The police did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, but Kenya’s chief justice, Martha Koome, condemned the abductions, calling them “a direct assault” on the rule of law.

Last week, as demonstrators packed the streets, lawmakers scrapped some taxes, including on bread, cooking oil and cars. But protesters have denounced other taxes, including on imported goods, and have urged the government to abandon the draft legislation.

“The audacity to raise taxes during these hard economic times, not listen to our concerns and then mistreat us shows how tone deaf the government is and how they don’t care about us,” said Kasmuel McOure, 26, a musician who was participating in Tuesday’s protests.

Detractors of the bill have pointed to corruption and mismanagement of funds, and faulted the opulent lifestyle and extravagant spending that they say have characterized the administration of Mr. Ruto, who has been in office since 2022. Kenyans have also faulted Mr. Ruto for reneging on campaign promises to champion the welfare of the poor and the interests of the striving Kenyans he called “hustlers.”

Opposition members of Kenya’s Parliament had rejected the draft legislation in its totality.

As the protests got underway on Tuesday, activists and critics said the early-morning abductions of some activists showed that the government was not ready to engage in a sincere dialogue.

Several protesters, including Mr. McOure, said they had received threats or intimidating phone calls in the days and hours leading up to the protests and were fearing for their lives, although they said they would not be silenced.

“No matter what they do, we will remain unbowed in our demand that we reject the finance bill,” Mr. McOure said.