By Corazon Kunyobo.
Knowledge is power.
The finance bill 2024 gave birth to so many controversial reactions, as the government
aims to raise or introduce taxes on a range of daily items and services such as internet
data, diapers, sanitary towels, bank transfers and bread. The raise was meant to reduce
the budget deficit and state borrowing.
Young people, commonly known as the Generation Z (Gen Z), took it to social media to
say no to the proposed finance bill, and planned countrywide demonstrations with the
hashtags #OccupyParliament #RejectFinanceBill2024
They considered the bill punitive and hosted X spaces that had more than 100,000
members.
The demonstrations kicked off, countrywide. Another thing that stood out is the kind of
knowledge the youths have, ranging from mastering the constitution and knowing their
rights.
On 25 th June 2023, Siasa Place organized a Civic and Governance Art Expo in
Bundalang’I constituency, Busia County, to sensitize young people and get their views
on the finance bill. The event kicked off at 9:00 AM with entertainment and games
geared towards awareness creation on the finance act.
There was a variety of competitions and activities ranging from dancing, singing, acting,
football matches, drawing, skits and tug of wars.
Titus, a youth, expressed his trust in their Member of Parliament, Hon. Raphael
Wanjala, because he voted ‘NO’ to the Finance Bill. He said he feels like their MP
listened to their grievances and that’s why he wasn’t in agreement with the bill.
Despite this, other youths have a contrary opinion. They say that the MP could have just
voted ‘Yes’ to the finance bill and get the president’s favor, thus more funds to their
constituency. They complained of zero development since he was elected, just like the
former MPs.
During the engagements, different young people expressed the challenges that they are
facing in the sub-county.
Some of them were; The scheme has no outlet, there is little transition of youth to
tertiary levels, high cases of teenage pregnancies, young people are unemployed,
Drugs and substance abuse and there is no access to clean and safe water.
There is need for an outlet because when the water is released to serve the rice, it stays
there stagnant, leading to floods. This stood out, as rice is planted by most of the
residents.
“If you guys didn’t come with mineral water, you’d leave this place with typhoid,” A
young person said.
This was him trying to let us know how hard it is for them to access clean and safe
water for consumption.
As they say, everything that has a start, has an end. The day came to its end with the
judges announcing the winners, and later on awarding them.
One thing is for sure, no one walked home empty-handed.
