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+---- Thread: A tax-revolt in Kenya? (/Thread-A-tax-revolt-in-Kenya)
A tax-revolt in Kenya? - Maxmars - 06-26-2024
Somewhat alarming news from the African continent...
From ZeroHedge: Kenya Protesters Storm Parliament, Police Fire Live Rounds, After Lawmakers Unleash Eco-Austerity
The Kenyan government introduced some new "eco-friendly" legislation, and lo and behold, 'eco-friendly' actually meant "give us your money."
The Kenyan capital of Nairobi has descended into violence and mayhem as large street protests by Kenyans outraged at new tax policies and a harsh 'Eco-Austerity' program imposed by the government have resulted in the parliament building being set on fire.
Legislators are evacuating after the anti-tax protesters initially breached parliament. They quickly overwhelmed police soon after the lawmakers voted to pass a bill which introduces new nationwide taxes, including an eco-levy which raises the price of basic goods such as diapers, as part of efforts to curb waste management and be more environmentally friendly.
The new taxes were tucked away in Kenya’s Finance Bill 2024, and directly impacts imports, prices, and sales of diapers, batteries/dry cells, smartphones, earphones, clocks, radios, TV sets, cameras... staplers, printers, calculators, photocopying machines, keyboards, mice, projectors and LCD monitors.
The stringent Eco Levy especially impacts those who intend to import plastics into the Kenyan market, imposing a hefty fee per kilo on the products.
Protesters have been shouting while entering parliament, "We’re coming for every politician." There are widespread reports that police have begun utilizing live fire against the throngs, also amid riot control measures such as tear-gas.
According to the author, this kind of "new policy" is driven by the machinations of global monetary authorities, who predicate their "largesse" on abiding by the newest fad in global elite circles..., "eco-coercion."
Sadly all of this is part of a familiar and historic pattern in Africa. The so-called international community and powerful global/Western institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regularly induce governments to take on huge debts, and then begin to impose from abroad drastic societal reform measures on the population.
And in the process of billions being exchanged, corrupt local government figures line their own pockets while imposing stringent and very sudden measures on the lower class and impoverished citizens.
While it may be similar in pattern, it might also be that some in the government are so detached from the citizens, they fail to appropriately gauge the severity of their own policies on real live people (cloister effect 101.)
