Driven by youth, the tax protest against President William Ruto’s IMF-driven plan to raise revenue by taxing an impoverished nation continued June 27. Although smaller (organizers were hoping for a “million people anti-tax march"), the protests have become focused on removing the President himself. Protesters have a new name for Ruto, now calling him “Zakayo” after the Roman Biblical tax collector Zacchaeus.
Now that the protesters have suffered 23 fatalities (along with several hundreds of injured), the youth, although they have no official leader, have become united in purpose: that of standing against what is seen as simple oppression by the government. In the words of protester Boniface Mwangi, “The arrogance is gone, but the lies continue…. See you [Thursday] at the one million people march. They can’t kill us all.” The included march posters were hoping to succeed in “blocking all roads” leading into Nairobi. Another said, “We are [now] returning to the streets to seek justice for our slain colleagues.”