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Protestors block the Nairobi-Namanga road at Kitengela town during the fuel hike demonstrations. [Peterson Githaiga, Standard]
Recent fuel protests have exposed something deeper than public anger over pump prices. They have revealed growing tension between the increasing fiscal demands of the State and the weakening productive capacity of the economy.
The issue is no longer simply taxation. It is whether Kenya’s current economic model is becoming increasingly extractive because it is insufficiently productive and increasingly disconnected from the lived realities of citizens.
Taxation is not inherently the problem. Functional states require revenue. Roads, healthcare, education, security, and public infrastructure all depend on taxation.
