The lessons of Africa’s tax revolts

The artZ 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 France. That was a fine idea until revolutionaries started lopping off aristocrats’ heads. Kenyan protesters have not gone that far, but their “Gen ” 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.