“Listening Keenly to the People of Kenya… I will not sign the 2024 Finance Bill” – Kenyan President William Ruto

Kenyan President William Ruto announced on Wednesday that he would not sign the controversial finance bill.

“Having reflected on the continuing conversation regarding the content of the Finance Bill 2024 and listening keenly to the people of Kenya who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this Finance Bill 2024, I concede, and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill,” Ruto stated during a televised address.

“The people have spoken,” Ruto added. “Following the passage of the bill, the country experienced widespread expression of dissatisfaction with the bill as passed, regrettably resulting in the loss of life, the destruction of property, and desecration of constitutional institutions.”

In the past couple of weeks, there have been increasing protests over the bill that the government introduced to address public debt. Last week, the government withdrew some proposed tax increases, including a 16% value-added tax on bread and taxes on motor vehicles, vegetable oils, and mobile money transfers. However, these concessions were insufficient to suppress protests amid the rising cost of living.

Dubbed #OccupyParliament or #RejectFinanceBill2024, the protests began in Nairobi, the capital city, before spreading to other parts of the country including the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa, the Rift Valley city of Nakuru and the opposition bastion of Kisumu. The protests aimed at putting pressure on lawmakers and members of the Kenyan parliament to reject the finance bill.

According to CNN, the protests claimed the lives of demonstrators when security forces fired teargas and live ammunition at them on Tuesday.

“I send my condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones in this very unfortunate manner,” Ruto said. “There is a need for us as a nation to pick up from here and go into the future,” Ruto added, noting that he would engage with the young people at the forefront of the protests to hear their ideas and proposals.