- He had in one hand a transparent bucket full of mandazis and two flasks and a pack of tumblers in the other hand.
- As soon as he opened the bucket, the protesters scrambled for a piece with his pleas for order falling on deaf years. Some missed.
Image: SCREENGRAB
Comedian David Oyando, popularly known as Mulamwah, joined protesting Gen Zs on the streets of Nairobi on Thursday in a show of solidarity as they protested against proposed tax measures in the Finance Bill, 2024.
Donned in white sneakers, black trouser, a white vest, a black jacket and a Godfather cap, he hyped the youthful protesters with the popular ‘wasee wasee eeh’ catchphrase.
“Hapa niko na mandazi tukunywe na chai tuongeze nguvu twende nalo mpaka jioni, au sio? (I have with me mandazi to take with tea to re-energise and go all the way to evening)” he said as the group responded in the affirmative.
He had in one hand a transparent bucket full of mandazis and two flasks and a pack of tumblers in the other hand.
As soon as he opened the bucket, the protesters scrambled for a piece with his pleas for order falling on deaf ears. Some missed.
“Gen Z Gen Z eeh!, Gen Z Gen Z aah,” he hyped the excited group as he proceeded to pour them tea.
“No surrender, shughuli mpaka jioni,” Mulamwah said.
Young protesters have been mobilising themselves online to show up in their numbers for the anti-Finance Bill protests.
They first marshalled an impressive turnout during Tuesday’s Occupy Parliament protest, the first of its kind to be led solely by young Kenyans.
The lot was commended for their boldness in fearlessly expressing dissent on the Finance Bill, 2024.
The organisers called for the second round of the protests on Thursday, this time around countrywide, as they urged Kenyans of all walks to turn up and show support.
In Nairobi, anti-riot police were deployed early morning to quell the protests and they employed all machinery, including water cannons, to keep the protesters away from Parliament precincts.
Inside the building, MPs were busy debating the Bill which the National Treasury is banking on to raise Sh346 billion of the Sh2.9 trillion revenue target for the year.
During the Budget reading on Thursday last week, Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u presented a Sh3.92 trillion Budget for the 2024-25 financial year.
As MPs prepare to vote on the Bill on Tuesday next week, Ndung’u has written to the National Assembly through the Clerk informing legislators that amendments to the Bill will trigger a long array of budget cuts across various sectors.
He said unless the MPs pass the Bill as proposed by the House Finance Committee, this will necessitate amendments to the Appropriation Bill to facilitate the expenditure cuts.
For instance, he said the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) would lose Sh15 billion, pending bills (Sh5 billion), Political Parties Fund (Sh900m); fertiliser subsidy (Sh5 billion), roads projects (Sh15.1 billion) and school feeding programme Sh1.8 billion.