Kenya’s president dropped the controversial bill that would have introduced a series of tax hikes on Wednesday in an address to the nation.

President William Ruto announced on Wednesday that he will withdraw the controversial finance bill, after at least 23 people were killed on Tuesday by security forces during countrywide protests that started last week. Ruto also pledged to reduce gov’t spending through budget cuts to the office of the president, parliament, judiciary and county gov’ts.

He also vowed to tackle corruption and expressed his condolences to the victims’ families.

Thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday, calling for Ruto to step down and setting fire at the parliament building.

Ruto deployed the military on Tuesday and said he had ordered security forces to thwart any effort “to undermine the
security and stability”, describing the protests as “treasonous”.

Al Jazeera.