William Ruto spared only the foreign minister in an effort to prevent the unrest caused by the proposed tax increases.
Bowed to pressure
William Ruto, the president of Kenya, bowed to pressure following widespread protests that produced the greatest crisis of his two-year term and dismissed his entire cabinet, except his foreign minister.
The youth-led demonstrations against the proposed tax increases started calmly before getting violent. In conflicts with the police last month, at least 39 people lost their lives. Before Ruto abandoned the increased taxes, a few protestors briefly invaded the parliament.
promised to announce more actions
In a nationally televised speech, he declared, “I will immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations and other Kenyans, both in public and private, to set up a broad-based government,” he promised to announce more actions later.
In addition, he fired the attorney general but claimed that this had no bearing on the deputy president’s position.
Kenyans requested that significant cabinet changes
According to seasoned anti-corruption campaigner John Githongo, Kenyans requested that significant cabinet changes be made on Thursday.
“Let us observe how the new ministers handle the major issues related to corruption, as well as the haughtiness and excess of his administration and the reality that many Kenyans lost their lives in the demonstrations,” he remarked. “Perhaps this will temporarily ease things.”
Ruto is caught between a struggling populace groaning from the rising cost of living and lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is demanding that he reduce deficits. Last week, he put up almost equal amounts of borrowing and spending cuts to close the nearly $2.7 billion (£2.1 billion) budget imbalance brought on by the removal of the tax increases.
Though the government has no outstanding debt, analysts have stated that Kenya will likely miss its IMF targets due to the tax rollback. For the fiscal year that began on July 1st, the budget deficit is anticipated to be 4.6% of GDP.
move towards justice
According to Ojango Omondi, a community activist with the Nairobi-based Social Justice Centers Working Group, the removal of so many cabinet members was a “move towards justice,” but the demonstrators would prefer to see who Ruto chose to replace them.
“Dismissing something is one thing; the other is making sure those selected for the cabinet are answerable to the constitution and the legal system,” he stated.
