(20 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nairobi – 20 June 2024
1. Police firing teargas at protesters
2. Protesters running
3. Protester putting out teargas using water
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Neema Bahati, protester:
"Kenya is rigged by poverty, we have no education, most of our people are unlearned, they cannot write, they can not read and the government still wants to pull away the budget of education, of healthcare services, of our teachers."
5. Protesters
6. Police officers on horses
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mulamba (only name given), activist:
"We are not going to sit at home so that they can pass another finance bill without our approval. We are going to add our voice to this and we need them to understand that we are not okay with what they want to force on us."
8. Protesters running
STORYLINE:
Protesters returned to the streets of Kenya’s capital on Thursday to protest against proposed tax hikes in a finance bill that is due to be tabled in parliament.
Clashes between police and the protesters took place as tear gas was used to disperse the crowds.
The right to peaceful protests is guaranteed in the Kenyan Constitution, but organizers are required to notify the police beforehand.
Police generally give a go-ahead unless there are security concerns.
More than 200 protesters were arrested on Wednesday in similar protests.
Some major tax proposals in the bill were dropped after a Tuesday morning meeting between ruling party lawmakers and Kenyan President William Ruto.
The chairperson of the finance committee, Kuria Kimani, said the proposal to introduce a 16% value-added tax on bread had been dropped.
Other levies that had prompted debate and have been amended include a proposed 2.5% motor vehicle annual tax that was to be placed on insurance.
A proposed tax on goods that degrade the environment will also be amended to apply only to imported goods to encourage local manufacturing.
Ruto last month defended the proposed taxes, saying the country must be financially self-sustaining.
Legislators have started debating the bill starting Wednesday with a vote scheduled for Monday.
Last year’s finance law introduced a 1.5% housing tax on gross income for salaried individuals, despite concerns that it would further burden Kenyans already struggling under a high cost of living.
The law also doubled VAT on petroleum products from 8% to 16%.
AP video shot by Idi Ali Juma
Production: Zelipha Kirobi
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