Kenya’s Ruto starts rebuilding cabinet after mass sacking

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NAIROBI — Kenya’s President William Ruto has nominated his first batch of new ministers after firing nearly his entire cabinet last week amid pressure from mass protests.

Of the 11 individuals named by Ruto on Friday, six were among those he dismissed, including Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki and Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale. Rebecca Miano, formerly Trade Cabinet Secretary, was named attorney general.

Others appointed in the new cabinet are a mix of professionals from various sectors with much more lowkey political profiles. Ruto’s picks will still need to be vetted by parliament.

Ruto said the reconstituted cabinet would be tasked with getting the country back on track. He announced plans to present a new roadmap next week including timelines and goals for the cabinet, to address job creation, public debt management, and accountability.

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Kenya’s president is widely expected to name allies of opposition leader Raila Odinga, his political nemesis and rival in the 2022 elections, to the cabinet next week. Speaking on Friday, Ruto said consultations were at “an advanced stage”.

“I am continuing to undertake consultations across the political divide on the balance of the cabinet that I will appoint shortly,” he said.

Odinga’s reported decision to form a cabinet with Ruto has however not gone down well with other parties in the opposition coalition he leads, Azimio.

Moments before Ruto’s address, Kalonzo Musyoka of the Wiper Democratic Movement said the coalition would not be party to the formation of the “broad-based cabinet.” He termed it a betrayal of the young protesters.

“As long as the Kenya Kwanza regime is in power nothing will change and the purported cabinet reorganization will only be cosmetic” he said, adding that anyone who opted to join would do so in their own capacity and not on behalf of the Azimio coalition.

Step Back

The initial dismissal of the cabinet by Ruto followed intense pressure from mostly Gen Z and millennial protesters who have over the past month taken to the streets to oppose tax policies and government corruption.

At least 50 people have been killed in the protests so far, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).

Demonstrators continue to demand for Ruto’s resignation, with another round of nationwide protests set for Tuesday next week.

Room for Disagreement

While the dismissal of the cabinet was seen as a major win for the protest movement, the reappointment of individuals sacked last week has not gone down well with many protesters.

“It is the same as spitting on our faces,” Brian Githinji, a protester in Nairobi, told Semafor Africa. “This is why we will go back to the streets until they get the message that this is a new Kenya, we want merit-based appointments and no recycling of leaders.”