The explosion of tear gas canisters, masked protesters wielding the Kenyan flag, throngs of people chanting in unison – these have been the scenes in Kenya for well over a month as thousands have taken to the streets – first to protest against proposed tax hikes and now to air their general grievances with the government.
In recent days, however, Kenyan President William Ruto, a key United States-ally, made a fiery charge: that antigovernment protesters are being funded by the US philanthropic organisation Ford Foundation.
Why did Ruto level this accusation? Here’s everything you need to know:
Protests began in mid-June when Ruto’s government announced tax hikes that would have raised the cost of many basics.
But the $2.7bn tax reform was just the tip of the iceberg: stagnating wages and unscaled corruption have frustrated the populace for years. The tax plan was merely the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, said media’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
That is also why protests have continued despite Ruto scrapping the planned finance bill on June 26, as well as dismissing almost his entire cabinet and offering “multi-sectoral” talks to address protesters’ grievances.
The clampdown on protests, in turn, has been severe. More than 50 people have been killed during the demonstrations, with another 59 abducted or missing, and 628 others arbitrarily arrested, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
On Tuesday, Ruto threatened a “total shutdown” of the country if protests continued.
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