Kenya's government has revived controversial tax proposals in its latest Finance Bill, including a 16% VAT on M-Pesa payments that will affect millions of ordinary Kenyans who rely on mobile money for daily transactions.
The move comes barely a year after deadly protests forced President William Ruto's administration to withdraw similar proposals from the 2024 Finance Bill. More than 60 Kenyans died in those demonstrations as citizens took to the streets to reject what they called punitive taxation on already-struggling families.
Now, the tax is back. And Kenyans are asking whether last year's sacrifice achieved anything at all.
"What do you mean there's going to be a new 16% VAT on M-Pesa?" wrote one frustrated Kenyan on social media. "What do you mean the finance bill we fought so hard against is being brought back?"
The proposed tax targets Kenya's ubiquitous mobile money system, which processes billions of shillings daily as Kenyans pay bills, send remittances, and conduct business without touching physical cash. For a nation where M-Pesa revolutionized financial inclusion, the tax represents a direct hit on economic survival strategies developed by ordinary citizens.
The Finance Bill also expands the Kenya Revenue Authority's powers to access private digital communications, raising privacy concerns among civil society groups.
"Even Stoicism can't save you from the monster that is the government of Kenya," another citizen wrote. "I've tried so hard to focus only on what I can control, and I'm failing terribly."
The timing is particularly galling for Kenyans already reeling from a cost of living crisis. Vegetable prices have surged unchecked, electricity costs continue rising, and fuel remains expensive despite global price drops. Now the government wants to tax the primary tool Kenyans use to navigate these economic hardships.
Last year's protests represented a rare moment of unified resistance across ethnic and class lines, with young Kenyans leading largely leaderless demonstrations that forced the government to retreat. The return of the same proposals suggests either remarkable political tone-deafness or a calculated bet that public anger has dissipated.
It hasn't.
"Kenya's Finance Bill is back," activists are warning. "And so are we."
The question now is whether the government will push ahead despite public opposition, and whether Kenyans will return to the streets to defend the gains they thought they had won. The stakes are clear: economic survival for millions who depend on M-Pesa, and political legitimacy for a government testing just how much its citizens will tolerate.
Fifty-four countries, 2,000 languages, 1.4 billion people. In Kenya, they're learning that some battles must be fought again and again.
