Angry Kenyan Youths protests tax hikes.

Thousands of young Kenyans took to the streets to voice their opposition to the Finance Bill, 2024 and to protest tax hikes on Thursday.

Protests were held across 17 regions in Kenya with thousands of angry youth assembling in Nairobi, Mombasa and the Rift Valley City of Nakuru. Some 200 people were injured in the nationwide protests against government plans to raise $2.7 billion in additional taxes.

The new taxes would include a 2.75 percent levy on income for the national medical insurance plan, along with increased taxes on vegetable oil and fuel.

The presidency on Tuesday announced the removal of proposed levies on bread purchases, car ownership as well as financial and mobile services, prompting a warning from the treasury of a 200-billion-shilling shortfall as a result of the budget cuts.

The government has now targeted an increase in fuel prices and export taxes to fill the void left by the changes, a move critics say will make life more expensive in a country already battling high inflation.

Thousands of mostly young people took to the streets of the capital Nairobi and elsewhere to pressure the government to abandon the proposals.

"They are just trying to lie to us, the taxes that they have removed on bread they have added somewhere else," 22-year-old protester Bella said, describing it as a tactic to "blindfold" citizens.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters in Nairobi, five rights groups, including Amnesty International and the Kenya Medical Association, said in a joint statement.

Protesters are calling for the bill to be scrapped, saying it will choke the economy and raise the cost of living for Kenyans who are already struggling to make ends meet.