Christine Naswa, a 40-year-old roadside vegetable vendor and mother of five in Nairobi, embodies the growing economic hardship in Kenya.
“The economy is very poor right now. There is no money in Kenya,” she told AFP, explaining her struggles to feed her children due to high living costs and low profits.
Despite being an economic leader in East Africa, Kenya faces significant challenges, particularly after a difficult past year.
Roughly 40 per cent of Kenyans live in poverty, growing increasingly frustrated by soaring expenses, a limited job market, and persistent corruption scandals. This widespread discontent led to deadly protests last June, sparked by new taxes introduced in President William Ruto’s finance bill. Though some taxes were later revoked, many Kenyans are finding it harder than ever to cope.
Kenya boasts a diverse economy with strong agriculture, services, and tourism sectors. However, its ambition to achieve middle-income status is hampered by substantial foreign debt.
The country now spends more on interest payments for these loans than it allocates to critical sectors like health and education.
Meanwhile, Kenyans believe taxes are already too high, with the burden largely falling on the small formal sector, which accounts for less than 20 per cent of jobs.
A Nairobi shopkeeper, who preferred to remain anonymous due to fears of looting experienced during protests, described the past year as the “toughest of all our 36-year history” in business.
He noted that shortly after the new government took office, taxes began to increase without any perceived benefits.
Analysts suggest President Ruto has lost the public goodwill he enjoyed upon taking office in 2022.
Patricia Rodrigues of Control Risks, a global consultancy, remarked, “There’s a huge amount of distrust and disillusionment with Ruto’s administration.” She explained that Ruto “came to power promising so much—a better life for the ordinary citizen—and instead… decided to increase taxes, and that was felt as a huge betrayal.”
International bodies like the IMF contend that Kenya must raise taxes to meet the expanding needs of its 55 million citizens.
However, the new budget, set for parliamentary debate on Thursday, is deliberately designed to avoid any direct taxes that might trigger further unrest.
Kwame Owino, from the Institute for Economic Affairs, a think tank, commented, “We are at the limit of how much tax Kenyans are willing to bear.”
He added, “The idea you can raise taxes to cover government inefficiencies and pay for debts that many Kenyans don’t believe were well-used—that idea is gone.”
Some believe Kenya’s problems could be resolved through serious action against corruption, but Rodrigues describes this issue as “very deeply entrenched.”
As a result, some Kenyans are already looking toward the 2027 elections for a fresh start, though the sceptical shopkeeper concluded, “Kenyans will always elect thieves.”
