By Dr Aribino Nicholas
Leaders in Africa tend to take their people for granted by not consulting with the people in the entire process of public policy formulation. People should be approached with a sense of respect and dignity because they are not subjects but citizens. Citizenship is not just defined in terms of status but also in terms of duty. Citizenship in terms of status implies that everyone should have documents that speak to being a constituent part of the country in which he or she is domiciled and citizenship in the light of duty implies that citizens have political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. These rights are indeed lucidly covered in both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966 and the international Covenant on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1966. It is the object of this opinion piece to look at what is happening in Kenya with both an open mind and an open mouth.
When one examines a phenomenon with an open mind and an open mouth, one adopts the attitude of a judge who is under obligation to look through the window to appreciate surrounding political, material, social, cultural and environmental circumstances before handing down a judgement. To that effect, one adopts a mind with a window and not a mind with a mirror. What is happening in Kenya has been accelerated by the intention of the government of Kenya to introduce a Finance Bill 2024. This Finance Bill 2024, among other things intended to introduce new levies on basic commodities like bread, vegetable oil, sugar and also an eco-levy on manufactured goods, including sanitary towels and diapers and an increase in existing taxes on financial transactions. The proposed tax measures did trigger the demonstrations, and these demonstrations were led largely by youths. In terms of demographics, 80% of the Kenyan population speaks to a youth bulge (aged 35 years and below) and 70% of Kenyans are wallowing in a deep dyed sea of poverty.
The proposed Finance Bill 2024 is coming against a background of internal resource mobilization in order to have 2.7 billion additional taxes to reduce the budget deficit and state borrowing. At the time of writing this opinion piece Kenya’s public debt is pegged at 68% higher than the 55% of GDP which is recommended by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) (IMF and WB). Arguably, the Finance Bill 2024 can be seen as a move to align fiscal and monetary policies to the dictates of the IFIs so that Kenya can access credit lines for economic growth. This is where most African States have to engage in critical self-talk in terms of their direction of accountability. The direction of accountability by African leaders is upwards, that is towards the IFIs as compared to being downwards (grassroots). Quantitative growth or economic growth without growth with development is a faulty-line for most African countries. The quantitative growth that is often associated with an economic face without a qualitative aspect that improves the happiness index of citizens will always motivate citizens to grumble and protest in the long run. When African countries go for economic growth, they tick the IMF and WB boxes for good governance, because for them it means gaining more economic stamina for their institutions that rely on ancient wealth. Historically, ancient wealth constitutes economic resources that were looted from Africa during the era of colonialism and slavery and that are now being loaned out to Africa. African countries get embedded in a roundabout of debt through their continued association with the IFIs. The whole idea behind the IFIs is to strengthen the global North through dependency thinking by African leaders. When the youths in Kenya protested, they shouted, “Willian Ruto-US puppet.” The youths in Africa constitute 65%, Africa is therefore a youthful continent. The youths have collective power and can use that power to unseat any government. The majority of these youths in Africa are out of employment, they have all the time in the world to pool their knowledge and physical energies to either move or remove any government from power.
African governments should consult with their citizens first before they make decisions that have adverse ramifications on the well-being of their citizens. For example, the idea of the eco-levy would imply that the menstrual hygiene of Kenyan women would be compromised as that move could witness a hike in the cost of sanitary wear. Period poverty would continue to characterize the lives of girls and women. In-toto the Finance Bill 2024 is not coming as an elixir to the every day people of Kenya, as it will be there for international economic relations between Kenya and the IFIs. Economic diplomacy should not come at the cost of citizens’ livelihoods. African governments have an opportunity to pool their economic resources through the African Development Bank for the purpose of financing their development plans. To deny citizens space for demonstrations is only inviting more problems for African countries as the youths may resort to risky copying strategies of living like joining terrorist groups for survival purposes. When one door is closed to the youths, many more will open, for example a door to the underground space will be opened where youths can be involved in planning to use and abuse substances, spending time on sites of pornography and joining terrorist movements. It is important for African governments to involve youths in decision making in matters that affect their lives. Before tear-gassing youths, the Kenyan government should introspect and ask itself, “What are the structural determinants of the youths’ protestations.” What is happening in Kenya today should be an early warning sign for all African leaders.
