President William Ruto has dissolved his first Cabinet, while choosing to retain only his deputy Rigathi Gachagua, and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi who doubles up as the CS Foreign Affairs.
The new development follows the recent youth-led protests meant to oppose tax hikes, and to demand governance reforms including dissolution of the cabinet.
The current Cabinet has been under immense scrutiny attributed to unpopular policies and public display of opulence that has angered Kenyans struggling to make ends meet amid a high cost of living.
The Ruto cabinet was announced on September 27, 2022, and was reshuffled on October 4, 2023, with new cabinet portfolios aimed at improving efficiency.
Many members of the now-defunct cabinet were Ruto’s political allies and point persons in key electoral zones in the last election.
Alfred Mutua, Moses Kuria, and Justin Muturi led political parties that joined Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in forming the Kenya Kwanza government.
Aden Duale, Alice Wahome, and Kipchumba Murkomen gave up their parliamentary elective positions to take up roles in the cabinet.
Here is the full list of the dismissed Cabinet Secretaries;
- Kithure Kindiki - Interior and National Administration
- Njuguna Ndung’u - National Treasury and Planning
- Aisha Jumwa - Gender, Culture, the Arts & Heritage
- Aden Duale – Defence
- Alice Wahome - Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development
- Alfred Mutua - Tourism and Wildlife
- Moses K. Kuria - Public Service, Performance, and Delivery Management
- Rebecca Miano - Investments, Trade and Industry
- Onesmus Kipchumba Murkomen - Roads and Transport
- Roselinda Soipan Tuya - Environment and Forestry
- Zachariah Mwangi Njeru - Water, Sanitation and Irrigation
- Peninah Malonza - East African Community, the ASALs, and Regional Development
- Mithika Linturi - Agriculture and Livestock Development
- Ezekiel Machogu – Education
- Davis Chirchir - Energy and Petroleum
- Ababu Namwamba - Youth Affairs and Sports
- Simon Chelugui - Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development
- Salim Mvurya - Mining, Blue Economy, and Maritime Affairs
- Florence Bore - Labour and Social Protection
- Eliud Owalo - Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy
- Susan Nakhumicha Wafula – Health
- Justin Bedan Njoka Muturi - Attorney-General
- Mercy Kiiru Wanjau - Secretary to the Cabinet
According to the president, Principal Secretaries will now supervise the ministries in the interim, as Ruto is expected to form a broad-based government.
“I will immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations, to set up a broad-based government that will assist me in expediting the necessary, urgent, and irreversible, implementation of radical programmes to deal with the burden of debt,” Ruto said on Thursday at State House, Nairobi.
It remains unclear when the president will reconstitute his Cabinet.
