President William Ruto’s decision to sack the majority of his cabinet was dismissed by young Kenyans on Friday, with some threatening to resume street protests in the event that he does not resign. After peaceful protests over proposed tax hikes last month became violent and stoked broad resentment of his government, Ruto has been frantically trying to minimize the damage.
The protests, which were mostly spearheaded by young, Gen-Z Kenyans and organized online, have put Ruto’s administration in the worst crisis of his two-year term and forced him to renounce the finance law that included the tax increases.
As Trust TV captured earlier, Ruto fired every cabinet minister on Thursday, with the exception of the foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi, in an effort to ease tensions. The President in his announcement yesterday, promised to “immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations, with the aim of setting up a broad-based government”
Although the statement was well received by some, several young Kenyans who were angry that Ruto had not fulfilled his pledge to improve their lot in life and create jobs in 2022 did not feel satisfied. Hyrence Mwangi, a Kenyan youth, said “we will be back on the streets until Ruto goes. He has wasted two years in office travelling and telling lies”.
“When we first went to the streets, Ruto dismissed us as a bunch of hired goons and criminals, only to come later and start saying he will make changes,” said 27-year-old Jackson Rotich.
