Violent protests are latest sign of Kenyan president’s unpopularity 3 years into his term

Nairobi, Kenya (AP) – The unhappy Kenyans of President William Ruto hold signs proclaiming “Wantam”, a sensational slogan distilling their efforts to dishonor him as a “eventual” leader. They stick their indexes in the air, saying that Ruto must leave the presidency when his mandate expires in 2027.

For others who want him to spend only three years after his elected official, even it is long.

The fifth president of Kenya has become a remarkably unpopular leader barely two years after his presidency after having proposed aggressive tax measures that many considered as a betrayal of his campaign promise to support people in the working class. Ruto said new taxes were needed to keep the government on the move.

Protests intensify

Last year, Ruto survived the tax protest movement when thousands of young people went down to the street in an unsuccessful attempt to force his resignation. In the most violent incident that killed at least 22 people, demonstrators dismissed and tried to burn the capital’s parliamentary building, Nairobi. Ruto said it would never happen again.

Ruto is now faced with a new wave of demonstrations more recently caused by the death of a blogger in police custody. Many Kenyans considered the incident as a symptomatic of a bad rule in Kenya, the president firmly controls the legislative assembly and the security apparatus.

“He has control of the institutions, but he has no control of people,” said Karuti Kanyinga, analyst and professor of development studies at the University of Nairobi. He noted that Ruto suffers from a “level of public confidence” that he is probably the most hated man in Kenya.

Ruto will probably remain in power until 2027, but “violence will continue to deepen” as young people, opposition politicians and others try to make an example of him in an increasing campaign to reform the government of Kenya, warned Kanyinga.

Public dissatisfaction

Protesters say they want to rid the government of corruption, marked by the theft of public resources and the apparently extravagant lifestyles of politicians. Some denigrate Ruto like “Zakayo”, referring to the Zacchaeus biblical tax collector, and others call him “Mwizi”, Kiswahili for the thief.

The demonstrators are also ignited by what they consider as incessant agreements under Ruto, which was forced to terminate an agreement of an estimated value of $ 2 billion which would have seen Kenya main airport controlled by the Adani group of the Indian conglomerate.

This agreement, which has become public months after the security forces violently reprimanded anti-fiscal demonstrations, rekindled the dissatisfaction of the public and strengthened a vision of Ruto as unrepentant and does not want to listen to its people.

To a rare extent for an African leader, Ruto is constantly talking about efforts to extend the tax base. His negotiations for a new debt to the International Monetary Fund have aroused criticism from those who say that the proposed reforms will injure the poor while enjoying politicians and in business class.

Last year, he told the Harvard Business School class 2025 that he was not going to preside “a bankrupt country”.

The demonstrators “do not feel heard and there is a feeling that things have not really changed since the demonstrations last year,” said Méron Elias, analyst in Kenya of the International Crisis Group. “There is a lot of sorrow and bitterness of last year’s protest which also feeds current tensions.”

Peter Kairu, a 21 -year -old student, accepted, saying that he did not expect the government to deal with corruption and nepotism raised by the demonstrators.

“Until we become the change we want ourselves,” he said.

Eileen Muga, who is unemployed in Nairobi, expressed his concerns in terms of security concerning the disappearance “when you say something about the government”.

After thousands of people walked in Nairobi last week to mark the anniversary of anti-Fiscal demonstrations of the previous year, Ruto said that he was going nowhere, warning if there was no Kenya for him, it would also be the case for the others.

“If we take this path, we will not have a country,” he said about the protest movement. “Yes, and the country does not belong to William Ruto. The country belongs to us all. And if there is no country for William Ruto, there is no country for you.”

The speech was characteristic of Ruto and stressed why many Kenyans are afraid of him when they try to challenge him.

Kipchumba Murkomen, the Minister of the Interior of Ruto, also spoke forcefully against the demonstrators, saying that they will be treated harshly.

A history of political maneuver

Years ago, as vice-president of Kenya, Ruto exceeded his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, in a power struggle that the president has lost.

The photos sometimes showed that Ruto shone on Kenyatta. The local press reported an incident when Ruto was so angry with his boss that he felt that he wanted to slap him. The two embodied a close and almost fraternal relationship during their first mandate, but quickly took place at the start of their second when Kenyatta tried to dismantle the Ruto swing on the official bureaucracy.

Ruto won the 2022 presidential election by a narrow margin, beating the opposition chief Raila Odonga, who had the support of Kenyatta. Ruto has since co -opted Odonga, bringing him closer to the political ally, but also eliminating a potential rival in the next elections.

Ruto fell with his assistant, Rigathi Gachagua, in the first two years of the presidency. In October, the legislators of the ruling party dismissed Gachagua in a parliamentary process that Ruto said he had nothing to do. Gachagua insisted that the legislators were acting at the instigation of Ruto.

Ruto did to Gachagua what Kenyatta has chosen not to do to Ruto, and some have seen Gachagua’s withdrawal like another sign that Ruto is intolerant and cannot trust, said political analyst Macharia Munene.

When he presented himself to the presidency, Ruto positioned himself as a foreigner and joined forces for electoral support as a chief of a so-called “Hustler nation”, a campaign which, according to him, would economically empower ordinary Kenyans.

The strategy called on millions of people with unemployment and inequalities. Informal merchants, motorcyclists and women on the market were often one of their supporters. Ruto also aligned himself with the evangelical Christian movement, often seen bearing a Bible and preaching chairs.

After taking up his duties, Ruto spoke of an urgent need to make the debt of Kenya sustainable. Tax increases in a controversial financing bill occurred months later. He also removed fuel grants that many Kenyans had come for granted.

“I think it is a question of overpromization and subdisposition,” said lawyer Eric Nakhurenya, analyst of government policies. “This is why the Kenyans are angry.”

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Muhumuza reported in Kampala, Uganda.