By Baraka Simba
On Thursday, June 20, 2024, hundreds of young people in Uasin Gishu County joined the rest of the country in protesting against the 2024 Finance Bill.
The protests dubbed #OccupyEldoret saw several groupings march from different directions to the town centre.
As early as 10 am, the protests had started and they went on until later in the afternoon.
The protesters expressed their dissatisfaction with the Finance Bill which has proposed a number of new tax measures that will be introduced if passed by the National Assembly.
Victor Rotich, a youth leader who participated in the protests said while they have no problem with President William Ruto’s Bottom Up Transformation Agenda, they want the government to put the youths into consideration.
“Your plans are good Mr President. We support you and we respect you but we don’t want to be on fire because you are not hearing the youths,” Rotich said.
He however expressed the need for the young people to be well guided so as not to end up ruining the country.
Gen Z and Millennials passing a message
Similar sentiments were shared by the Director of YK27 Matthew Kipchirchir.
He said by taking part on the nationwide protests, the youths were only passing a message to the government over the contents of the controversial 2024 Finance Bill.
“We are passing a message to our honourable MPs that we understand they are going to pass the bill, but they should know that we also need jobs,” said Kipchirchir.
Similar protests were held in several major urban areas including the country’s capital–Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru cities among others.
Meanwhile, at the National Assembly, some Members of Parliament also stood in support of the young people.
Among these MPs was Umulkher Harun who boldly on the floor of the house said, “As Generation Z of the house born in 1996, I say no“.
But despite the widespread protests, the Kenya Kwanza tyranny of numbers carried the day as 204 MPs voted in support of the bill moving to the second reading against 115 members who were against it.
