Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday dismissed almost all of his Cabinet ministers and promised to form a new government that will be lean and efficient following weeks of protests over high taxes and poor governance.
\nRuto said he made the decision after listening to the people and that he would form a broad-based government after consultations.
\nKenya has seen three weeks of unrest in which protesters stormed into parliament on June 25 after a finance bill was passed that proposed tax increases. More than 30 people died in the protests, which have morphed into calls for the president to resign.
\nRuto said the prime Cabinet secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, a key political ally, would remain in office.
\nRuto appointed 21 Cabinet ministers following his election in 2022. Critics accused the president of choosing political cronies and departing from the previous practice of picking technocrats to be in charge of ministries.
\nThree ministers resigned from their elected positions to take up ministerial appointments. Others lost the election and were seen as being awarded by the president with political appointments.
\nSeveral ministries including agriculture and health have been engulfed by corruption scandals involving fake fertilizer and misappropriation of funds.
\nHe also announced austerity measures including the dissolution of 47 state corporations with overlapping functions to save money and the withdrawal of funding for the First Lady’s office, among others.
\nAnalyst and commentator Herman Manyora called the dismissal of the Cabinet a \u201cbold move\u201d that was necessary to quell the discontent in the country.
\nThis is the first time a sitting president has dismissed Cabinet ministers under the new constitution. The last time a similar move occurred was in 2005 after a failed referendum when then-President Mwai Kibaki dismissed his ministers to assert his political authority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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