Kenya’s Ruto Must Pick Up the Pieces After Tax Debacle
Demonstrators confront Kenyan security forces in Nairobi during a nationwide strike to protest tax hikes on June 25. Police killed dozens of unarmed Kenyans.
Photographer: Kabir Dhanji/AFPSince taking power in 2022, Kenya President William Ruto has spent a lot of time establishing himself as Africa’s preeminent statesman while engaging with foreign creditors in an effort to repair the nation’s strained finances.
Until recently, he’d made remarkable progress on both fronts. Ruto, 57, has hosted the inaugural pan-African climate summit and became the first African leader in 16 years to secure an official US state visit. He has sent Kenyan police to try and quash gang violence in Haiti, refinanced eurobonds, won the promise of relief from the International Monetary Fund and engineered a rally in his nation’s stocks and currency.