Kenya's President William Ruto said in an address to the nation on Wednesday (June 26) in the wake of mass protests that reportedly left some two dozen people dead the day before that he would withdraw the finance bill that had sparked the violence. 

The original Finance Bill, 2024 had proposed taxes on bread, cooking oil, mobile money services, specialised hospitals and on motor vehicles. While these were rolled back last week following earlier protests, the public demanded more “concessions,” Ruto said.

“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this Finance Bill 2024, I concede, and therefore, I will not sign the 2024 Finance Bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn.

After the bill was passed on Tuesday, protesters clashed with riot police on the streets, who sought to disperse them with teargas and truncheons. Some managed to break into parliament, setting parts of the building on fire and vandalising other parts of the chamber. Hundreds were injured, said one human rights group that recorded 23 fatalities.

“The people have spoken,” Ruto said in his address, in which he barely touched on the concern over the rising cost of living that sparked the protests. “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.”

Ruto said that over the coming 14 days, Kenya would engage in a multi-sectoral conversation concerning public debts and the future of the East African nation.

But before announcing that the bill would be withdrawn, Ruto had spelt out why MPs thought the bill was necessary – including the need to pay down Kenya’s high debt and cover the costs of initiatives towards achieving universal healthcare and improving infrastructure, schools and farming subsidies.

“When I assumed office 20 months ago, our country was facing tremendous economic challenges. Escalating costs of essential household commodities, high fuel prices, rapid depreciation of the Kenyan shilling and spiralling public debt were threatening to ground our economy,” Ruto said at the outset of his televised address.

“We have made significant progress in pulling the nation back from the brink of debt distress. Our debt situation is better managed, and our budget now has space for investment in programmes aimed at easing the hardship on vulnerable people and creating opportunities for the youth.

“Our GDP grew by 5.6% in 2023, ranking Kenya among the 27 fastest-growing economies in the world. Our inflation figures have fallen from a high of 8% in May last year to 5% in April this year.

“It is instructive for the nation to know that for every 100 shillings we collect as taxes, we spend 61 shillings in debt service. We have paid Kenya’s Eurobond debt that was borrowed in 2014 of $2bn that has been hanging around our neck. We paid the last instalment of $500mn. Today, Kenya’s debt burden is much less, more sustainable, and we are on course to redeem our country from the discomfort of debt and assert our sovereignty.”