AYABONGA CAWE: Kenyan riot deaths show how debt reform can go awry
Gen Z refuses to shoulder the costs of top-down reform with resigned disapproval
01 July 2024 - 05:00
Amid running battles in the Nairobi streets between Gen Z protesters and the police and army, the acrid smoke of tear gas filled the air. Cardboard placards with colourful messages berating the president, the finance bill, the IMF and the political elite told the story of all that can go wrong with debt reform.
As with most African tragedies, we had seen this all before. The late Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, writing of the Nairobi of his youth in the early 1990s, recounted “streets upon streets of Kenyan shops and textile factories disembowelled by the death of faith in a common future”. ..
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.