President Ruto has defended his move to bring back a section of the dismissed cabinet secretaries, a decision that left many citizens scratching their heads as to who the president listens to. He said that the reappointed cabinet secretaries must adhere to deliverability terms, irrespective of whether they’ve been friends or not.
“I have seen many people ask me why did you dismissed the whole cabinet and then you hired some back. It was necessary to have a fresh start so that even those I have given another opportunity to serve in cabinet, they must now know that this is new and the terms are different. We may have been friends, but now the terms are different,” Ruto said.
Ruto’s new cabinet attracted backlash from the majority of Kenyans, who expected new faces devoid of political inclination to take over from the dismissed lot. He had earlier promised to form a ‘broad-based government’ that would make all Kenyans feel represented when the old cabinet was dissolved.
However, Ruto went ahead to appoint some members of the opposition party into the new cabinet, a move that triggered criticism from Kenyans who saw it as a plan to purge the opposition. At least four of the most vocal opposition lawmakers and retired governors were given slots in the new cabinet.
While it seems like political tensions are cooling down following massive protests in the past few weeks, Ruto appears to be regrounding with new promises to win the legitimacy of Kenyans who had lost confidence in him. The president finished his coastal region’s tour on Sunday with a discussion regarding the nation’s progress at the Mombasa Town Hall.
Amid wide criticism from Kenyans over his actions as the president who listens not to raise issues surrounding the nomination of cabinet secretaries, a section of his close confidence from the political party and other walks of life has so far opened up. Moses Kuria, the former Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, recently highlighted the government headwinds on running key projects due to the extensive debts.
“The debts were too much. We tried to raise more taxes, but Kenyans warned us against increasing rates. We were left in a dilemma. All the projects that we had—housing, healthcare, and education—were at risk as we wondered where the money could come from to achieve them,” Kuria said.
Francis Atwoli, the Cotu secretary general, however, drummed up support for President Ruto over the new cabinet, citing that the president had the best interests of Kenyans at heart. He went ahead to defend the opposition chief, Raila Odinga, who’s received wide criticism since calling for the national dialogue amid protests, and finally the appointment of opposition members into the new cabinet.
He said that Raila’s family has endured enough, and it is time to reward him for the sacrifice he has made for the freedom Kenyans enjoy today. At the same time, he said that Cotu supports and affirms Gen Z activism on transparency and accountability in governance.
