President William Ruto of Kenya has dissolved his cabinet with immediate effect in what is a move to appease protesters who spent two weeks asking for an end to his administration.
His plans to raise revenues through tax raises have suffered setbacks even as the Kenyan Revenue Authority missed its tax targets for 2023.
“I have decided to dismiss with immediate effect all the cabinet secretaries and the Attorney General of the cabinet of Kenya, except the prime cabinet secretary and cabinet secretary for diaspora affairs. The office of the vice president is not affected in any way,” Ruto said in a televised address on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the president reached out to opposition leader Raila Odinga to help quell the tensions gripping the country for a month. The current crisis started after the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition failed to heed calls to reject the controversial 2024 Finance Bill, which was finally withdrawn on June 25 after demonstrators overran parliament.
What started as protests against new taxes on bread, cars, diapers, and sanitary towels, among other items, catapulted into calls for Ruto to resign, with Kenyans accusing his government of corruption, extra-judicial killings, abductions, and incompetence.
On Thursday, July 11, Ruto announced that all cabinets were dissolved except the Cabinet secretary and office of foreign affairs and Deputy president.
