Protesters throng Nairobi city centre to demand rejection of Finance Bill and chant historic ‘Yote Yawezekana Bila Ruto!’
By THEDISPATCH.DIGITAL REPORTER
Protests against the punitive IMF-inspired Finance Bill 2024 started on a high note in Nairobi city streets as protestors converged at various points armed with water bottles and smartphones.
There were exciting scenes as protestors marched, danced and sang a modified version of the historical “Yote Yawezekana Bila Moi” song, with Moi replaced with Ruto. The scenes were reminiscent of the end of the Daniel Moi regime and the defeat of the firs Uhuruto team at the 2002 elections that Mwai Kibaki resoundingly won with a 68 percent vote.
Fearing an explosive Tahrir-Square-like moment and crowd, the government started blocking access to the city centre by blocking vehicles going in from the Eastlands side and those coming from other parts like Kibea and Ngong Road. But protesters still managed to get through and reach the city centre. Government operatives were already afraid that the protest would culminate in a march to Statehouse, the seat of power, and try to eject William Ruto from office. There were several armoured trucks stationed outside the Statehouse with armed soldiers inside, ready to counter any marchers.
Unless Ruto recalls the Bill,” said one protestor, “we aim at nothing short of removing him from that house. We cannot be working to fee others while our own lives are a mess”
As the protests started, there were fears the government would throttle or disconnect the Internet but the protesters seemed aware of this and had planned well in advance – all of them had been instructed to download VPN (Virtual Private Network) apps that would enable them to access the Internet and social media sites like X and Facebook.
“Blanket Internet blocking would be costly even to the government as many of its services are mounted and executed on the Internet,” said Michael Kiprono, an IT expert. “The most probable thing they would try to do is IP blocking – that is blocking access to social media sites by blocking access to the host addresses by blocking local IPs. This works by first the social media site is identified then access from local IP addresses blocked – it is specific to that site. When you install a VPN, the geo-blocking is disable and you could as well be accessing X from Iceland or Mongolia.”
They might not want to admit it, but government has been caught flat-footed by the determination and technology of the ongoing protests. The organisers have taken the protest to the grassroots, speaking local languages and dialects and using grassroots organisers to mobilise locals to join the protests against Ruto’s most ambitious but corruption-riddle Finance Bill.
Observing the protest, Dr. Richard Onyango, a researcher, was impressed; “The technology use is unprecedented and there has never been a more complex and determined protest in Kenya like this. This is beyond politicians whose aims are short term goals and once their interests are addressed, they go back to hugging the same men who caused the problem.”
The Ruto government so far appears to unable o craft a response and even its reputed propagandists like Dennis Itumbi and @Bianca appear confused, lost and unable to generate content that could counter the protestors. That the protest does not have a singular head or command centre has also left the government confused on how to address the hydra that threatens to consume it with popular protests. So far, several acivists the government apparently believed to be behind the protests, like Gabriel Oguda, an anthropologist who regularly comments on and satirizes the government; Hanifa Adan associated with the blog Eastleigh Voice; activist Hussein Khalid have been either arrested or abducted but the protest seems to be going on unabated. If anything, it is gaining momentum
“The one thing that is inspiring the popular protest is that many citizens know that the Finance Bill intends to generate money to be stolen by Ruto and his men. Most of the money will not go to projects, but into the pockets of people that are well-placed at the top of the government. It will not make much difference if the Bill isn’t passed because it is budgeted corruption and it’s corruption that is killing this country. WE have a government that came to power to perpetrate corruption that’s what we must bring to an end.”
As time goes on, it is becoming apparent that the very survival of the William Ruto regime is threatened and the only way is to let go of his vain determination to have his way and let the Bill fall. If he decides, as his hubris is likely to tell him, that it’s either his way or the highway, then Kenya is in for a long, dark night and there’s only one person who will rue his decision; William Samoie Ruto.