Kenya's President William Ruto has directed the treasury to come up with ways to cut spending by 346 billion Kenyan shillings ($2.69 billion) in place of contentious tax hikes that sparked deadly protests in the country.
Ruto is contending with the most serious threat to his two-year-old presidency, as a youth-led protest movement has in less than a fortnight escalated from online criticism of the tax hikes into mass rallies demanding his removal.
On Friday, he instructed treasury officials to ensure only critical and essential services were funded, using no more than 15% of the budget, until a supplementary budget was approved.
Ruto also signed into law Appropriations Bill 2024, which allows expenditure in the meantime to "guarantee the continuity of government operations, especially in providing critical services".
Police brutality
Ruto also met with several Catholic bishops, a group that has strongly condemned police brutality, to find shared "solutions to the issues facing our country."
He bowed to public pressure Wednesday and announced that he will not sign the controversial Finance Bill 2024, which had several tax hikes.
The death toll from the week-long protests in Kenya has risen to 26 with the latest casualties.
The High Court of Kenya on Thursday approved the use of military forces to restore order following violent anti-tax protests that overwhelmed police.
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