This image is of public protests against government corruption related to COVID-19 protective equipment. These critiques emerged prior to the April 2021 public criticism of the government and the IMF who, using the COVID-19 crisis approved new additional loans (ostensibly to help alleviate the economic burden that COVID-19 has had on citizens). Against already blatent government corruption under the cover of COVID-19, the Kenyan public have been asking why additional funding to the government is being given by international lenders. The international financial regime of the World Bank and IMF find themselves in a difficult position. The wide public critique (and use of social media to make a resouncing public online campaign against the loans) of the loan raises questions about the ways that international bodies like the World Bank and IMF support particular government regimes and the mechanisms through which citizens can hold their governments accountable (and sever the support from international bodies).
According to this blog, "To scale down the matter, the IMF ordered Kenya to be accountable for the loan by enforcing wealth declarations for all public servants in the quest to curb corruption and reducing government parastatal expenditures. After securing the IMF loan, Kenya is set to borrow a new Ksh124 billion fourth Eurobond and Ksh82 billion World Bank loans to fund development projects and fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Kenya's debt currently stands at Ksh6.69 billion and poised to rise to 9.37 trillion by mid-2023."
