Kenyan activists have called for protesters to take to the streets again on Tuesday, with many rejecting appeals from President William Ruto for dialogue following his decision to withdraw proposed tax hikes.
The protests, which have been led by young people and organized largely on social media, were initially sparked by a finance bill intended to raise 346 billion Kenyan shillings ($2.69 billion) in taxes.
But the demands of many protesters have escalated over the past two weeks to include calls to root out corruption and for Ruto to step down, presenting the most serious crisis of his two-year-old presidency.
An interview Ruto gave on Sunday evening to Kenyan television networks, in which he mostly defended the actions of the police and his government, seemed to have only hardened the positions of protesters.
On Monday, activists were sharing pamphlets on social media that urged people to occupy the capital Nairobi’s Central Business District. Many posted under the hashtag #OccupyCBDTuesday.
The protest movement has no official leadership, and it was not clear to what extent people would respond to these calls after tens of thousands came out last week in some of the country’s largest protests in recent memory.
In audio forums on social media, activists have been discussing how to maintain incentives now that the immediate intention of killing the finance bill has been attained.
BY: YVONNE MORAA
Comment here