INTERNATIONAL NEWS Painful Cost of Living Increases Violent Protests in Kenya

By Lisa Vives

Information Network

Kenyans are preparing for tough times after lawmakers approved tax increases that are even unpopular with supporters of the president who once vowed to reduce the cost of living.

“He said he was going to make life easier for us hustlers. We are now unable to afford food. Prices are higher than they were before elections,” hairdresser Evelyne Adhiambo told a reporter.

while dispersing protesters.

At least six people were killed on Friday during protests against the taxes.

Kenya’s High Court suspended the implementation of the legislation pending a legal challenge, but the government has raised gas prices anyway.

Ruto campaigned on a platform of reducing the cost of living. While seeking election, he accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of letting food costs “skyrocket" because he has never slept without food in his life, as he was born in a wealthy family.

Ruto's election win was largely attributed to his appeal to voters as a fellow “hustler” who rose from a humble background to senior roles in government, including as Kenyatta's vice president.

Economist Aly Khan Satchu said the gas tax is a reform that the International Monetary Fund has been championing for some time and may have been a “soft precondition” for the $1.1 billion IMF package recently announced for Kenya.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has led a series of protests this year against the high cost of living and alleged election irregularities, demonstrations that have repeatedly degenerated into unrest. That prompted civic leaders to warn against a return to the ethnically charged violence that has plagued Kenya in the past.