President Ruto’s cabinet is the shortest serving under the 2010 Constitution. Having stayed in office for 18 months following his presidential win in August 2022, his cabinet saw a total of 24 appointees sworn in on October 27, 2022.
Following a massive public outrage by the younger generation dubbed Gen Zs, which began on June 18, 2024, President Ruto finally bowed to pressure to dissolve almost his entire cabinet, leaving only the office of the Deputy President and that of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, which is also an unconstitutional office.
Kenya’s demonstrators have been demanding the dissolution of the entire cabinet, a reduction of the lawmakers salaries by approximately 70%, the arrest of police officers involved in the arbitral arrest and murder of the anti-government peaceful protesters, and for the president to tender his resignation.
Not cowed into fear and intimidation, it was on June 25, 2024, that the shooketh thing hit the entire country and the global community at large when demonstrators gained entry to the parliament to flush members of parliament out, the most scenic and intricate action to have ever happened in the history of Kenya.
This followed a series of rampages and dismay displayed by Kenyans online following the tabling of the controversial Finance Bill 2024 to the National Assembly for reading, determination, and approval to be a law. But on this, Members of the National Assembly passed the bill in watch of the unwavering and vexed protesters in the sprawling Nairobi CBD.
Kenyans have, however, maintained that the country does not have a revenue problem, which the bill sought to increase through the taxation of basic commodities in an already crumbling economy. The country has an expenditure problem, where they have severally accused the State Officer of living a showmanship and lavish lifestyle on purported public funds, while citizens are “advised to live within their means.”
President Ruto appointed the richest cabinet in Kenya’s history, with their total worth surpassing that of the entire President Biden’s cabinet. However, Kenyan’s have grudgingly questioned the criteria by which they acquire their wealth, with others displaying too much opulence with questionable integrity.
According to Articles 152 and 156 of the 2010 Constitution, the President of the Republic of Kenya has the mandate to nominate, with the approval of the National Assembly, the Cabinet Secretaries and the Attorney General. The Cabinet should therefore consist of the President, his Deputy, the Attorney General, and not fewer than fourteen and not more than twenty-two cabinet secretaries.
After 18 months in office, the president fired all cabinet secretaries, including the Attorney General, leaving only his Deputy and Prime Cabinet Secretary, following weeks of amok by Kenyans, who claimed corruption surges, junketting, and extreme disrespect. This dissolution came as a shock, as several Cabinet Secretaries were on the ground in various parts of the country.
