President Ruto withdraws finance bill after deadly protests

President William Ruto has withdrawn the contentious finance bill 2024 that sparked deadly countrywide protests.

In an address to the nation Wednesday, Ruto regretted the widespread expression of dissatisfaction with the passage of the bill triggering demos that resulted in the loss of lives and destruction of property.

He said it was the unfolding events that informed his decision.

“Following the passage of the bill, the country witnessed widespread expression of dissatisfaction with the bill as passed, regrettably resulting in the loss of life, destruction of property and desecration of constitutional institutions… Consequently, having reflected on the continuing conversation around the content of the finance bill of 2024, I will decline to assent to the bill.” “I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,”.

While outlining the reasons behind his relentless push for the proposed additional tax measures contained in the bill, the Head of State said he had backed down to listen to the people.

“Notwithstanding all these concessions, it became evident that members of the public were still insisting on the need for us to make more concessions. I am grateful to all the members of the National Assembly who voted yesterday affirmatively for the Finance Bill 2024 as amended on the floor of the House to incorporate the views generated in the public participation process” he stated.

He went on to convey his deepest condolences to the families of the youths who died during the protests.

“I send condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate manner. Six people lost their lives yesterday, it’s a very unfortunate situation that I wish would not have happened. There’s a framework that will ensure those six Kenyans will be accounted for “ he told the nation.

Going forward, the President committed to engage the young people on matters of national importance.

“I propose an engagement with young people of our nation to listen to their issues and agree with them on their priority areas of concern. I also propose that within the next 14 days, a multi-sectoral, multistakeholder engagement be held with a view to charting the way forward on matters” he announced.

The additional tax measures proposed in this year’s Finance Bill he explained were for raising money to employ permanently all the 46,000 JSS interns, increase NG-CDF by Kshs 10B, increase the allocation to county governments by Kshs 15 billion, allocate 14.5 billion for rural electrification, provide an additional Kshs 6 billion for UHC, paying debts owed to coffee and sugarcane farmers, and Kshs 2 billion to support the stabilization of milk prices among other interventions.

“As we hold this important conversation, I remind us that we should proceed within the foundational principles upon which our nation is founded, namely; constitutionalism, adherence to the rule of law and respect for constitutional institutions” he observed.

On the latest spate of mysterious abductions and kidnappings, he said “Ever since I came into office, there is not one incident of extra judicial killing. Those said to be abducted have since been found in police custody, and those already processed were released”.

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