Following weeks of protests over high taxes and poor governance, Kenyan President William Ruto sacked almost all of his Cabinet ministers on Thursday and promised to build a new, lean, and effective administration.
In a televised address, the president also sacked the attorney general and stated that ministries will be managed by their permanent secretaries.
Ruto stated that he reached the choice after listening to the people and that he will establish a broad-based government following discussions.
Kenya has experienced three weeks of instability, with demonstrators storming into parliament on June 25 after a finance measure was enacted that included tax rises.
More than 30 people were killed in the protests, which have escalated into calls for the president’s resignation.
Ruto stated that the principal Cabinet secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, a major political ally, will remain in position.
He said the dismissals followed “a holistic appraisal of the performance” of the Cabinet and that the new government would help him “in accelerating and expediting the necessary, urgent and irreversible implementation of radical programs to deal with the burden of debt, raising domestic resources, expanding job opportunities, eliminating wastage and unnecessary duplication of a multiplicity of government agencies and slay the dragon of corruption.”
Ruto 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.
Three 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.
Several ministries including agriculture and health have been engulfed by corruption scandals involving fake fertilizer and misappropriation of funds.
The protesters accused the Cabinet of incompetence, arrogance and displays of opulence as Kenyans battle with high taxes and a cost of living crisis.
Demonstrators called for the president’s resignation even though he said he would not sign the finance bill that proposed higher taxes.
Ruto on Friday apologized for the “arrogance and show of opulence” by legislators and ministers and said he took responsibility and would speak to them.
He also proposed austerity measures, such as the dissolution of 47 state organizations with overlapping functions to save money and the elimination of funds for the first lady’s office, among others.
Herman Manyora, an analyst and commentator, described the Cabinet’s resignation as a “bold move” necessary to soothe national discontent.
This is the first time a sitting president has removed Cabinet ministers under the new constitution. The last time a similar step was made was in 2005, following a failed referendum, when then-President Mwai Kibaki fired his ministers to demonstrate his political power.
