Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said he was ready for \u201ca conversation\u201d with thousands of \u201cpeaceful\u201d young protesters who held\u00a0nationwide demonstrations\u00a0this week to oppose proposed tax increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protesters, who began their\u00a0demonstrations\u00a0on Tuesday, say the administration of President William Ruto has gone back on its pledge to reduce taxes and lower the cost of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organised on social media and led largely by young Kenyans who livestreamed the demonstrations, the protests caught Ruto\u2019s government off-guard, as discontent mounts over his economic policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am very proud of our young people\u2026 they have stepped forward peaceful[ly] and I want to tell them we are going to engage them,\u201d Ruto said in his first public comments on the protests on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are going to have a conversation so that together we can build a greater nation,\u201d he added during a church service in the Rift Valley town of Nyahururu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, however, one protest leader said Ruto had to \u201crespond publically\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf he truly wants dialogue, he must respond publically to our demand letter,\u201d said Hanifa Adan. Protesters have called for a national strike on June 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said he was ready for \u201ca conversation\u201d with thousands of \u201cpeaceful\u201d young protesters who held\u00a0nationwide demonstrations\u00a0this week to oppose proposed tax increases. The protesters, who began their\u00a0demonstrations\u00a0on Tuesday, say the administration of President William Ruto has gone back on its pledge to reduce taxes and lower the cost of living. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,2,16],"tags":[7,30,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-39137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-featured","9":"category-news","10":"tag-apie-project","11":"tag-culture","12":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"\n