Kenyan President Sacks Entire Cabinet Members After Tax Protests

Kenyan President Sacks Entire Cabinet Members After Tax Protests

Kenyan President William Ruto has sacked all his ministers following widespread anti-government protests.

Ruto who announced this on Thursday, July 11, 2024, during a nationwide broadcast said the dismissal exempt prime cabinet secretary and foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

Ruto said he decided on the dismissals “upon reflection, listening keenly to what the people of Kenya have said and after a holistic appraisal of the performance of my cabinet and its achievements and challenges”.

“Upon reflection, listening keenly to what the people of Kenya have said and after a holistic appraisal of the performance of my Cabinet and its achievements and challenges, I have, in line with the powers given to me by Article 152(1) and 152(5)(b) of the Constitution and Section 12 of the Office of the Attorney-General Act, decided to dismiss with immediate effect all the Cabinet Secretaries and the Attorney-General from the Cabinet of the Republic of Kenya except the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs,” he said.

Dr Ruto said he would involve other political stakeholders in the process of reconstituting his Cabinet.

In the meantime, the President said, government operations will continue under the leadership of Principal Secretaries and other relevant officials.

“I will immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations, with the aim of setting up a broad-based government that will assist me in accelerating and expediting the necessary, urgent and irreversible, implementation of radical programmes to deal with the burden of debt, raising domestic resources, expanding job opportunities, eliminate wastage and unnecessary duplication of a multiplicity of government agencies and slay the dragon of corruption consequently making the government lean, inexpensive, effective and efficient,” he added.

This follows a youth-led protests, sparked by planned tax hikes which Ruto was forced to abandon.

At least 39 people were killed in clashes with the police and some demonstrators briefly stormed parliament last month.

While the rallies have eased, the protest action has widened into a campaign against perceived state extravagance and corruption, alongside calls for Ruto to go.