The news
NAIROBI — President of Kenya Willem Ruto has nominated his first batch of new ministers, after firing almost his entire cabinet last week amid pressure from mass protests.
Of the 11 people Ruto named on Friday, six were among those he sacked, including Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki and Defence Minister Aden Duale. Rebecca Miano, formerly Trade Minister, was appointed Attorney General.
Others appointed to the new cabinet are a mix of professionals from different sectors with much more modest political profiles. Ruto’s choices still have to be reviewed 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 targets for the cabinet, to address job creation, public debt management and accountability.
Knowing more
Kenya’s president is widely expected to appoint allies of opposition leader Raila Odinga, his political nemesis and rival in the 2022 election, to the cabinet next week. Ruto said on Friday that consultations were at an “advanced stage”.
“I will continue to consult across the political divide on the balance of the cabinet that I will appoint shortly,” he said.
However, Odinga’s decision to form a cabinet with Ruto has not gone down well with other parties in the opposition coalition he leads, Azimio.
Moments before Ruto’s speech, Kalonzo Musyoka of the Wiper Democratic Movement said the coalition would not be a party to the formation of the “broad-based cabinet”, calling it a betrayal by the young protesters.
“As long as the Kenya Kwanza regime is in power, nothing will change and the alleged cabinet reorganization will only be cosmetic,” he said, adding that anyone who chooses to join will do so in their own capacity and not on behalf of the Azimio coalition.
Step back
Ruto initially decided to dismiss the cabinet after intense pressure from mainly Gen Z and millennials, who took to the streets last month to protest against tax policies and government corruption.
According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), at least 50 people have been killed in the protests so far.
Protesters continue to demand Ruto’s resignation, with further nationwide protests scheduled for next Tuesday.
Room for disagreement
Although the resignation of the cabinet was seen as a major victory for the protest movement, the reappointment of those dismissed last week has not been well received by many demonstrators.
“It’s like spitting in our faces,” Brian Githinji, a protester in Nairobi, told Semafor Africa. “That’s why we’re going back to the streets until they get the message that this is a new Kenya, that we want merit-based appointments and not recycling of leaders.”
