Five Ghanaian Members of Parliament and the Clerk to the Local Government Committee were caught up in the attack on the Kenyan Parliament by protesters on June 25, 2024.
They include Member of Parliament for Odododiodio, Nii Lantey Vanderpuiye, Emmanuel Gyamfi, MP Odotobri, Sylvester Tetteh, MP for Bortianar Ngleshi Amanfro, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, Asuagyaman, Mohammed Hardi Tufeiru-MP for Nanton and Mrs Anita Quartey-Papafio, the Clerk.
Nii Lantey Vanderpuiye disclosed that members of the Local Government Committee of Parliament have been in Kenya since Saturday, June 22 on a benchmarking tour of the Kenyan National Assembly.
According to him, they met with the Finance Committee of the Kenyan Senate on Tuesday after which they were about to have lunch.
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“All of a sudden, we heard that a movement called Gen Z, which has had some demonstrations in the past. Over the past two weeks, they have organized some demonstrations against government’s intention to introduce new taxes in order to raise some $3.2 billion in order to finance government business in 2024-2025. Some of the taxes the youth felt were unnecessary, draconian and will further impoverish them,” the MP explained.
Nii Lantey continued that, “one of the things they talked about is the echo tax, which looks like the pollution tax which our government wanted to impose. They also had sanitation tax and a nuisance tax on bread. Seventeen taxes the government wants to introduce and the youth said enough is enough. They are already suffering and they are not going to accept any taxes. They also complain that the current administration has borrowed so much but they cant see anything, so they are not going to accept any taxes until government has accounted for all the money it borrowed.”
He added that, “I think they got the information that today the second reading of the bill will be done. So, they decided to besiege the parliament house to stop the senators from going ahead.
It was horrible to see. It got to a point where the policemen were running away. The youth virtually overrun the police. They broke the Parliament house gate, they burnt two police vehicles. They were throwing their own canisters at the Police and the soldiers could not stop them.”
The Odododiodoo MP said it was only by the grace of God that they were taken to safety.
“All the Kenyan MPs ran away. The Speaker was taken away to the Library and subsequently out of the building. About 100 of the youth are injured and over 200 have been arrested… I want to assure families of those of us who are here, Emmanuel Gyamfi, MP Odotobri, Sylvester Tetteh, MP for Bortianar Ngleshi Amanfro, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, Asuagyaman, Mohammed Hardi Tufeiru-MP for Nanton and our Clerk, Mrs Anita Quartey-Papafio. We are all safe and sound,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, has expressed deep concern about the outbreak of violence in Kenya following public protests which has resulted in loss of life and damage to property.
A statement issued by the Union, dated June 25 said the Chairperson urges all stakeholders to exercise calm and refrain from further violence.
“The Chairperson also appeals to national stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue to address the contentious issues that led to the protests in the supreme interest of Kenya,” the statement added.
“The Chairperson reiterates the total solidarity of the African Union with the Government and People of Kenya and exhorts them to maintain peace, security and stability in the country,” H.E. Mahamat stated.