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
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