Aftermath of Kenyan Riots, Ruto Sacks AG, Cabinet Secretaries

In his first official response to the recent country-wide protests in Kenya, President William Ruto released a statement on Thursday addressing the perceived gaps in government policies that led to the unrest.

Ruto expressed his perspective on the unfortunate events and announced major changes in his national government committee, including the dismissal of his Attorney General and all cabinet secretaries.

An emotional Ruto stated, “Recent events that necessitated the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, which will require a review and reorganisation of our budget and fiscal management, have brought us to an inflexion point. These changes are crucial to addressing the concerns of our citizens and restoring confidence in our government’s ability to manage the country’s affairs effectively.”

“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.”

“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. “

“During this process, the operations of government will continue uninterrupted under the guidance of Principal Secretaries and other relevant officials. 17. I will be announcing additional measures in due course”, announced President Ruto.

An African Policy analyst and veteran, Emmanuel Osizemhete, said that President Ruto’s statement seems to reflect a commitment to reassessing and improving governmental policies in response to the protests, aiming to ensure better governance and fiscal management moving forward, hence “he should be given a benefit of doubt and space to bridge the gaps”

It would be recalled how youths of Kenya recently wrote new chapter in their country’s history, by coming together in a spontaneous and camaraderie of shared discontent, taking to the streets to protest against the tax policy of its government, especially the Finance Bill 2024, which they viewed was grossly anti-people.

For ten days from June 18, the youths mobilized themselves in a sort of political awakening through social media platforms like Tik tok, Facebook, Telegram, Instagram, etc., and embarked on a never-before experienced outrage and public demonstrations across the country, to resist and challenge parliament’s approval of President William Ruto’s austerity Finance Bill, which introduced unpopular tax proposals and levies that would further increase an already onerous cost of living for the majority of citizens.

Initially, the government’s response was measured but things later turned violent as the anti-police alleged shot some protesters fatally. Yet the youths remained resolute in their demand for better policies from their government that would significantly improve the lives of the Kenyans.

Public outrage and collective demonstrations opposing Finance Bill 2024 marked another epochal milestone since Kenya’s independence, as the spontaneous and organic people-driven movement took to the streets in droves to oppose political leadership and what they believed to be IMF-influenced austerity policies.

Days later, more Kenyans joined the protesters, raising the ante and their voices against the punitive Finance Bill and the government’s violation of citizens constitutionally protected right to peaceful and unarmed assembly and protest.

The youths expressed their creativity of mass communication by mobilizing the populace through social media hashtags #OccupyParliament and #RejectFinanceBill2024, and this grew to be an unorganized political assemblage that found a rallying point under the harsh economic realities affecting them collectively. New hastags were introduced to expand the articles of the demands under #OccupyStateHouse and #totalshutdown, ostensibly as mass determination to oppose the Finance Bill 2024 and challenge leadership of the Ruto-led government.