What Is The Endgame Of Generation-Z?

By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga 

Worth Noting:

• The Kenya police had been given clear instructions. Allow the young people to organize and hold their demonstrations.
• However, you should not allow them to invade and damage government installations and other institutions created by the constitution.
• In his earlier statement, the President while consoling the bereaved families reiterated his readiness to hold dialogue with young protestors.
• During a church service in Nyahururu, the President stated. “I have listened to what the young people are saying. These are our children and we have to listen to them. I’m going to engage them and I want to assure them of my commitment to address the concerns they had raised”

A day after President William Ruto declined to assent to Finance Bill 2024, Generation-Z continued with their demonstrations.

This brought to fore the question. What is the endgame of the organizers of these protests?

Many would not buy the narrative that these protests were not being sponsored and were leaderless.

After parliament passed the Finance Bill 2024, the protestors immediately trained their gun at President William Ruto. They asked Dr Ruto not to sign the Bill into law.

The President heeded the call. “The protestors were our children and I have listened to them. Therefore, I’m not going to sign this Bill”

Looking at latest protests, the turnout has gone down. Why? Many Gen-Z and millennials believe the protests had been infritrated by criminal gangs.

Besides the organizers end game seems to be toppling the government of President Ruto.

Many Kenyans would aver.

We cannot support these attempts. He is a democratically elected President.

We are happy because our position is resonating with Gen-Z protestors. The President did what we wanted. That is withdrawing the Bill.

We know the protests were initially peaceful but turned chaotic and bloody.

A number of the young protestors lost their lives in the ensuing streets battles with the Kenyan Police. Others suffered injuries and were admitted at hospitals.

The Kenya police had been given clear instructions. Allow the young people to organize and hold their demonstrations.

However, you should not allow them to invade and damage government installations and other institutions created by the constitution.

In his earlier statement, the President while consoling the bereaved families reiterated his readiness to hold dialogue with young protestors.

During a church service in Nyahururu, the President stated. “I have listened to what the young people are saying. These are our children and we have to listen to them. I’m going to engage them and I want to assure them of my commitment to address the concerns they had raised”

He spoke as Generation Z piled pressure on members of parliament (MPs) to reject the Finance Bill 2024.

For the first time, the protests were digitally driven. Besides, thousands of young people under the banner of Gen Z demonstrated a high level courage and boldness.

The youths who had turned up to oppose the Finance Bill 2024 were aged between 18-34 years.

It is worth to note some protestors were armed with smartphones and according to some politicians some had been dropped by Uber taxis.

A renowned political analyst had alleged the protests were being sponsored by a foreign power. He did name this power and what it intended to achieve.

The organizers however dismissed these claims.

The protests started on a a day the chairpersons of the two powerful committees of the National Assembly namely Budget and Appropriation and Finance and National Planning tabled their financial report in parliament.

The report had taken into consideration the views of Kenyans opposed to the Finance Bill 2024 collected during the public participation.

As you can see in our report, we have clustered taxes in contention into three categories. We have removed some and we have proposed zero rating and exemptions on others.

Noting that the priority of this house is to safeguard the interests of Kenyans, we have no doubt our report will be adopted.

The Chairman of Budget and Appropriation Committee Ndindi Nyoro had a few days earlier set the ball rolling when he unveiled a list of some of the taxes that would be dropped.

They included proposed 16 percent VAT on bread; 2.5 percent motor vehicle tax. Eco levy will also be adjusted with baby pampers, sanitary towels and other products being zero-rated.

Ndindi, the Kiharu MP, further stated: We have also listened to parents, guardians and other stakeholders in education sector. So, we have reinstated the school feeding programme. We have also allocated enough funds to employ Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers on permanent and pensionable terms.

But Generation-Z and millennial would hear none of this. They maintained that the budget should be more leaner.

This is not the first time we are witnessing this. Similar protests had rocked the country during the tenures of former Presidents Daniel Arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.

During the public participation, many Kenyans reasoned; Yes, we agree paying taxes is a legal civic duty. However, some of the proposed taxes contained in Finance Bill 2024 are very high.

So, we recommend they should be reduced.

I had earlier listened to President William Ruto

My critics were peddling a false narrative that Kenyans were paying highest taxes.

In the contrary, they were paying the lowest tax in the continent of Africa. It is currently capped at 14 percent.

In other countries of Africa, the tax ranges between 22 to 25 percent.

In Europe, he gave an example of France where the tax is capped at 45.

President Ruto further reiterated that he intended to increase the taxes. My plan is to leave the tax at 22 percent when my two terms come to an end in 2032.

President Ruto however noted. Constitutionally, the mandate to enact the Finance Bill is vested in Parliament. I hope the House will support me.

Turning to his critics, he noted that they would want Kenyans to believe that this would make them more poorer.

The opposite is the true position. Dr Ruto said his interventions are designed to ensure a faster growth of our economy.

This will herald in creation of more jobs in both formal and informal sectors. As such, Kenyans will put more money into their pockets and smile all the way to the bank.

Everyone of us has a duty to develop our country.

When I assumed office, the economy was in bad shape.

I said the pain of tightening your belt will be for a short time.

Today the cost of living is coming down. You are buying a 2kg packet of maize flour (Unga) at Sh100. When i took over, the price of the same packet was Sh230.

The prices of other essential commodities have also drastically come down.

I had earlier written an article in this column, I zeroed in on a President Ruto’s speech during the ceremony organized by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to cerebrate and reward Kenyans who were paying their taxes in full and within the timelines stipulated in law.

The President minced no word in praising them for being a key pillar of enabling his government to deliver services to Kenyans.

The government does not have monies of its own and it majorly relies on these revenues.

With this in mind, the President noted. Without you, we will not be able to do the implementation. So, I salute and commend you. Indeed, you are our Mashujaa.

The previous government’s appetite of borrowing foreign loans was very high. This was hampering the growth of our economy. As such, I told you I will not follow that route. A time has come for us to live within our means.

Later, the President Ruto became the first Kenyan head of state to personally file his tax returns at Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) headquarters in Nairobi.

At the time, he challenged KRA to pull up their socks.

As a country, we are facing a serious financial crisis and this has incapacitated our job of delivering services to the people of Kenya.

He vowed to deal firmly with KRA rogue officials.

Your days are numbered. I know some of you do not mean well for the country. You are out to sabotage my administration.

At the time the president fall short of saying some of KRA officials owed loyalties to his political opponents and they were serving their interests.

If you don’t meet the targets, the message is clear. You want me (President) to resort to imposing more taxes to Kenyans and borrowing foreign loans. In so doing, you hand my opponents political fodder to fight me.

President Ruto is facing challenges similar to those encountered by his predecessors- Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.

Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi