NAIROBI—The leader of Kenya, a key partner of the United States, gave in to domestic and international pressure on June 26 when he withdrew a bill that would have imposed tax hikes in a country enduring high inflation and a crippling cost-of-living crisis.
President William Ruto’s action came just a day after violent protests against the proposed law swept Nairobi, the capital of East Africa’s largest economy, leaving at least 22 dead and hundreds injured.
The Epoch Times witnessed how Kenyan riot police met the demonstrations with force, sometimes using live ammunition, tear gas, stun grenades, and water cannons against protesters armed with flags and placards.
Hordes of furious, mostly young demonstrators responded by breaking into the parliament building and torching part of it, as Kenyan lawmakers sheltered in a basement.
Unlike previous demonstrations in Kenya, the anti-tax protests were not fueled by mobs of poor, tattered shack-dwellers angered by harsh living conditions and fired by empty bellies. Instead, the mass action was led by young, employed, middle-class citizens wearing Levi jeans and Nike sneakers—the people whose salary checks would have been most affected had Mr. Ruto passed the finance law.
Many of the demonstrators directed their anger at a president perceived to spend more time on foreign visits than he does dealing with domestic issues.
“Go live in America!” screamed Ester Kimari, 23, as she hurled a chunk of brick at city hall while tear gas engulfed a mob that had just fled the parliamentary precinct.
Nearby, black smoke billowed from an army truck hit by a petrol bomb, as helmeted police officers clubbed a motionless man on the asphalt, blood flowing from a gash on the back of his head.
A 24-year-old barman bellowed in fury and fear over the dead body of a young man.
“This is my friend,” he cried, “this is my friend.”
Washington, eager for partners on a continent increasingly influenced by China and Russia, has in recent months forged close ties with Kenya, considered to be a democracy surrounded by countries ruled by autocratic regimes.
Mr. Ruto made a state visit to Washington a few weeks ago, the first by an African leader in 16 years.
He was entertained at a state dinner at the White House, his speech applauded by celebrity guests that included former President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan.
The designation provides Kenya—which together with the United States is fighting the al-Qaeda affiliate group al-Shabaab in neighboring Somalia—with access to U.S. military training, military equipment, and defense research.
It confirmed Kenya as one of the United States’ most important strategic military partners.
This week, Kenya also sent 1,000 paramilitary officers to Haiti as part of a U.S.-sponsored effort to quell an uprising by criminal gangs.
In this light, Washington reacted swiftly to the chaos in Kenya.
At a news conference in Washington on June 25, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller condemned the violence in Nairobi.
“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,” he said.
The U.S. Embassy in Kenya and 12 other Western embassies released a statement that said they were “shocked” by the violence.
The statement asked for “restraint on all sides.”
But a few hours later, Mr. Ruto appeared to up the ante by blaming the clashes on “criminals” who he said had “hijacked” the protests.
He vowed a “full response” to the violence.
Given these comments, Mr. Ruto’s scrapping of the new tax law is “shocking” and “without precedent” in Kenyan history, according to Nairobi-based independent political analyst Charles Mathari.
“I know Ruto as a proud man, and clearly his first response was to crush all resistance by a show of even greater force,” he told The Epoch Times.
“His surrender and statement that he’ll listen to the protesters and hear their message clearly happened because of international pressure, specifically from the United States.
“Ruto has been very clear about his wish for Washington to have very close ties with his administration, and his recent state visit to the White House gave him tremendous prestige, being the only African leader to have been given such an honor in many years.
“He doesn’t want to throw a spanner in the works of his good relations with America and to ruin his reputation as a statesman.”
A senior Kenyan government official, who spoke with The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity, said Mr. Ruto had spoken with “several high-ranking American officials” following his strong June 25 statement.
“They urged him to walk back his fighting talk. They didn’t ask him to withdraw the tax bill, but they appealed to him to do all he could to avoid a repeat of what we saw on Tuesday.
“It was then that the president went into a meeting with his advisers, and they decided the best course of action would be to kill the tax bill—as a sign of a democratic government that listens to its citizens and that has feelings for people who already have a heavy financial burden in their daily lives.”
Mr. Miller said in a statement that Mr. Blinken “underscored the importance of security forces demonstrating restraint and refraining from violence and encouraged prompt investigations into allegations of human rights abuses.”
Elizabeth Sidiripoulos, director of the Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, told The Epoch Times that “sense had prevailed” and that both the United States and the Ruto administration had done “very well” to ensure their relations remained strong going forward.
“I think we’d be having a very different conversation now had Ruto carried out his initial threat to meet fire with fire, and had he continued to call what were essentially peaceful demonstrators ‘criminals,’” she said.
