Kenya's former President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged restraint after tax-hike protests in the East African nation left at least five people dead and over 90 others injured on Tuesday.
In a statement on Tuesday, Kenyatta, who served as Kenya's fourth president from 2013 to 2022, urged the administration of his successor, William Ruto, to "listen to the people."
Ruto has described the Tuesday happenings as "treason", and vowed swift and decisive response, saying the "violent protests" were "organised and financed by dangerous people."
The Kenyan government has deployed the military to contain protests, which are planned to continue later this week. The African Union has urged peaceful resolution to the grievances.
More taxes
President Ruto seeks to introduce more taxes on imported sanitary towels, mobile phones and motorcycles, as well as impose taxes on land disposed under family trust schemes.
Ruto, who has drawn a record-high 3.9 trillion shillings – or 30 billion US dollars – budget for the financial year 2024/2025, says Kenya needs more revenue to avoid overreliance on loans
Below is Kenyatta's statement dated June 25, 2024:
"My fellow Kenyans,
"I come to you with a heavy heart saddened by the loss of lives occasioned by the current situation prevailing in our country.
"It is the right of every Kenyan to protest as determined by the constitution we all promulgated in 2010. It is also the duty of leaders to listen to those they lead.
"At this trying time for our country, I want to remind all leaders that they were elected by the people.
"Listening to the people is not a choice but a mandate enshrined in the principles of our constitution and in the very basis and philosophy of democracy.
"Leaders must know that power and authority they have is donated to them by the people.
"I therefore call for calm and for the leadership to show restraint and do the right thing by listening to the people and not be antagonistic to them. Violence on either side is not the answer.
"As your former president, I have felt the weight and the difficulty of leading Kenya. I therefore pray for wisdom and civility to be established and for peace and progress to belong to all of us as children of Kenya.
"Dear Kenyans, I stand with you and I ask our leadership to embrace dialogue and speak to the people and not at the people.
"I pray for peace and understanding on the part of each and every Kenyan and for all of us to remember that Kenya is bigger than one of us: there is nothing cast in stone that cannot be changed.
"God bless Kenya."
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