Kenya’s president, William Ruto, has fired his entire cabinet apart from his foreign minister, bowing to pressure after nationwide protests that have created the biggest crisis of his two-year presidency.
The youth-led protests against planned tax rises began peacefully but turned violent. A least 39 people were killed in clashes with police last month. Some demonstrators briefly stormed parliament before Ruto abandoned the new taxes.
“I will immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations and other Kenyans, both in public and private, with the aim of setting up a broad-based government,” he said in a televised address to the nation, adding that he would announce additional measures later.
He also dismissed the attorney general, but said the office of the deputy president was not affected.
The sweeping cabinet changes on Thursday were what Kenyans had been asking for, the veteran anti-corruption activist John Githongo said.
“Let us see what happens now if the new ministers deal with big issues around corruption and just the arrogance and excess of his administration and the fact that a lot of Kenyans died during the demonstrations,” he said. “Hopefully this should temporarily calm things.“
Ruto has been caught between the demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut deficits and a hard-pressed population reeling from the rising cost of living. He proposed spending cuts and additional borrowing in roughly equal measure last week to fill the near $2.7bn (£2.1bn) budget deficit caused by the withdrawal of the tax rises.
Analysts have said the tax rollback means Kenya is likely to miss IMF targets, although the government does not have debts that are due. The budget deficit is projected to be 4.6% of gross domestic product in the fiscal year that started on 1 July.
Ojango Omondi, a community activist from the Social Justice Centres Working Group in Nairobi, said dismissing so many cabinet ministers was a “move towards justice”, but the protesters would want to see who Ruto appointed in their place.
“It’s one thing to dismiss, the second is to ensure that the people that will be chosen in the cabinet are accountable to the constitution and the rule of law,” he said.