As U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said at the Summit of the Future last week, global governance and financial systems “reflect a bygone era,” and they are in urgent need of reform. For those of us living in Kenya, such reform cannot come soon enough.
Kenya has been in the news for its recent protests, where more than 60 people lost their lives. Although complex, these demonstrations were largely sparked by the International Monetary Fund’s pressure on the Kenyan government to pass a new finance bill that imposed taxes on essential goods such as bread, agricultural inputs, fuel, and sanitary pads.
These painful austerity measures and regressive taxes were required for Kenya to qualify for a $2.7 billion loan from the IMF. While the general public are struggling to pay for basic items, the government introduced a tax exemption for the importation of aircrafts, including helicopters and spare parts.