The lessons of Africa’s tax revolts
If states want to collect more, they will have to offer something in return
The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can for the benefit of the other third, Voltaire is supposed to have quipped in ancien régime France. That was a fine idea until revolutionaries started lopping off aristocrats’ heads. Kenyan protesters have not gone that far, but their “Gen Z” movement has rattled the country’s complacent rulers. What began as indignation at tax rises has turned into a popular campaign against corruption and misgovernance.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Give a little, get a little”
From the August 17th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Middle East & Africa
Hamas talks a big game but is in chaos
Look beyond the latest bravado and brutality and it is bitterly split
Iran’s alarming nuclear dash will soon test Donald Trump
There is no plausible civilian use for the enhanced uranium Iran is producing
Syria’s new rulers say they are keen to integrate foreign fighters
Outsiders continue to see them as a threat
Rwanda’s reckless plan to redraw the map of Africa
The fall of Goma could trigger another Congo conflict
Three big lawsuits against Meta in Kenya may have global implications
One was prompted by the murder of an Ethiopian professor
Trump should try to end, not manage, the Middle East’s oldest conflicts
And he should see the region as more than a source of instability and arms deals