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East Africa

Kenya’s Opposition and ruling elites sit down to discuss the peace process

August 11, 2023

(3 minutes read)

Odinga’s Azimio La Umoja coalition said it wants to discuss the rising cost of living as well as electoral reforms after Odinga lost his fifth bid for the presidency to Ruto, claiming he was cheated of victory. However, an earlier draft agenda did not include the economic crisis nor a raft of tax hikes introduced in July, angering Kenyans suffering from spiraling prices for basic goods such as fuel and food.

Critics accuse Ruto of breaking promises made during the election campaign when he declared himself the champion of impoverished Kenyans and pledged to improve their economic fortunes.

Opposition demonstrations that erupted after Odinga’s election loss in 2017 continued until he brokered a surprise truce the following year with former president Uhuru Kenyatta that became known as “the handshake”. Both sides have said they are not interested in a power-sharing agreement, and Odinga has vowed to return to the streets if opposition demands are not met.

Inflation in Kenya has remained high, at an annual rate of 7.3 percent last month, and public debt, already an eye-watering 67 percent of GDP or more than US$70 billion, is becoming increasingly costly to repay as the Kenyan shilling plummets to record lows of around 143 to the dollar.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni accused the World Bank of pressuring his country to abandon its anti-homosexuality law. Ugandans would develop with or without loans, Museveni slammed on Twitter, renamed X, after the World Bank suspended all new loans to Kampala because of an anti-homosexuality law enacted by the president on May 29.

The President said that it was regrettable that the World Bank and others are trying to pressure us to abandon our faith, culture, principles, and sovereignty, using money. He nevertheless added that Uganda would continue to discuss with the World Bank loans so that the country could get over the acute financial crisis.

The World Bank said that no new public financing for Uganda would be submitted to its board of directors, as the anti-homosexuality law coming into force in the country in 2023 ran counter to its values. Consultations are still ongoing between the Ugandan government and the World Bank on issues surrounding the anti-homosexuality law.

It has aroused the “concern” of the UN Secretary-General according to his spokesman and has been described as a “serious attack” on human rights by US President Joe Biden. The text provides for heavy penalties for people having homosexual relations and “promoting” homosexuality. The crime of “aggravated homosexuality” carries the death penalty, a sentence that has not been applied for years in Uganda.