Under as much scrutiny as he can be, President William Ruto is desperate to turn the heat away from him.
On Friday, Ruto announced the first 11 members of his Cabinet. He hinted that he would cede the other half of the coalition government to other stakeholders, who he said were still consulting, in what he calls a broad-based government.
This situation has essentially been forced on him by circumstances threatening his political survival. Ruto has been under siege from Generation Zs and Millennials, who have made several demands on what the next Cabinet should look like.
They insist that cabinet secretaries should be people of utmost integrity and with proven track records and not of the calibre of the previous crop, which comprised persons in constant brushes with the law.
Equally important, the protesting youth demanded that Ruto should not recycle his former Cabinet or incorporate the opposition. Recent polls also showed that the majority of Kenyans did not want members of the former Cabinet back, not even those deemed “performers”.
Despite such demands, Ruto would recycle six members of his former Cabinet, which sparked immediate backlash online under the hashtag Tupatane Tuesday (let’s meet on Tuesday), which warned of a fresh round of protests.
Activist Mercy Tarus described the nomination of cabinet secretaries as “renaming a Cabinet”.
“These people had no idea how to run a government. They just had a strategy to win elections through divisive narrative,” she said. “If you fired a person for incompetence you will rehire them on incompetence.”
Veteran journalist David Makali wondered about the sense of reinstating sacked officials.
Taking jokes too far
“These jokes are being taken too far. Why dissolve Cabinet and recycle 60% of the cartel?” Makali posed on X.
In his State House address, the President attempted to justify the recycling of his allies and appointment of new faces as meant to enhance his economic turnaround plan.
“I gave the nation my undertaking to reflect at length on... issues that have been brought to sharp focus by the people of Kenya,” said Ruto, who defended the need for an inclusive government.
Earlier, in an interview on Spice FM, lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi counselled that Ruto should take the chance and start afresh.
“The President has a second chance. He should not saddle us with these incompetent riffraffs that he collected from (political) rallies,” said Abdullahi.
He added: “If he doesn’t get it right then we will realise that the fundamental problem that this country faces is the president himself.”
Ruto is also pushing to have the opposition politicians on board, hence his announcement of half the Cabinet.
As Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei admitted on X, hiring opposition honchos is a gamble that could attract a “political cost”.
But not hiring them also seems like a risk, especially for a man needing company. In the thick of the countrywide protests, Ruto was mostly isolated, abandoned by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua with whom they were in constant wrangles.
He recently seems to have patched things up with his deputy. Ruto remains adamant that the opposition coalition joins the Kenya Kwanza Executive.
“The issues that have come to the forefront, requiring expeditious attention as a matter of urgent priority include... the importance of constituting a more inclusive government,” said Ruto.
The ODM is the most enthusiastic about the prospect of partnering with Kenya Kwanza, a move that has rattled its partners within Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya. The Saturday Standard is aware that the outfit is to land seven Cabinet slots.
A section of Azimio affiliates opposes onboarding their coalition into the government. In a statement, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka said the only arrangement the outfit would agree to would be a “transitional government of national unity” resulting from a people-driven convention.
“We shall not participate in or support the proposed Kenya Kwanza-led broad-based government of national unity. This is a betrayal of the Kenyan people, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, who have paid the ultimate price to rid this country of the disastrous Kenya Kwanza regime,” Kalonzo said in Nairobi, flanked by Democratic Action Party-Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa and Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, among others.
Their position mirrors that taken by Gen Zs and Millennials, who oppose an arrangement they argue will shrink oversight. However, they do not oppose a government that incorporates multiple stakeholders.
Over the past month, they have insisted on having a government with representation from Kenya’s corners and with a national outlook. Out of Ruto’s 11 nominees, six are from the Mt Kenya region, a fact that many online highlighted in the wake of the announcement.
In recent weeks, Gachagua’s allies have pressured Ruto to hand the Mt Kenya region the majority of slots in the Cabinet, with Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga demanding eight slots for the region.
Gen Zs and Millennials have also pushed for a lean Cabinet, demanding it be capped at the constitutional minimum of 14 cabinet secretaries, calls that now seem ignored Ruto has announced 11 nominees as half of his Cabinet.
University lecturer Francis Owakah faulted the president’s disregard of most of the demands by the Gen Zs and Millennials, also questioning the lack of regional balance among the first 11 nominees.
“Gen Zs said they want a professional and lean Cabinet. What quality has Ruto brought to the Cabinet? Is he matching his words with his actions? He said he had listened but did he listen well,” said Dr Owakah, a philosopher.
Historian Macharia Munene read Ruto’s actions as meant to show he could stand his ground and that he trusted the allies he reinstated.
“They (Gen Zs) can want what they want but Ruto doesn’t have to do it. He has shown them that the critics are not the ones deciding and it is up to them to think of their next move,” said Prof Munene.
