Kenya's President William Ruto, during an address to the nation at Nairobi's State House on Thursday, announced the dismissal of all cabinet secretaries and the attorney general of the country.
“I have today, in line with the powers given to me, decided to dismiss all the Cabinet Secretaries and Attorney General, except for the Prime Cabinet Secretary and CS Foreign Affairs,” he said.
He added that the decision was made "upon reflection, listening keenly to what the people of Kenya have said, and after a holistic appraisal of the performance of the cabinet and its achievements and challenges."
The head of state announced that he will begin wide talks right away with various political forms and sectors in order to establish a "broad-based government" that is also "lean, inexpensive, effective, and efficient."
"Rapid programs to deal with the burden of debt, raising domestic resources, expanding job opportunities, eliminate wastage and unnecessary duplication of a multiplicity of government agencies and slay the dragon of corruption," he pledged to implement with the help of a new team.
Last week, the president announced the dissolution of 47 public offices to cut government spending. This follows the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 due to recent violent protests in Kenya.
Demonstrations against tax increases, which also called for the president's resignation, began in Kenya on June 18. On June 25, protesters set fire to the parliament and city council buildings in the capital.
According to the National Human Rights Commission of Kenya, 39 people were killed and more than 350 injured during the protests. President William Ruto said he knew of 19 deaths.
The draft law provided for an increase in the value-added tax rate in the fields of transport, food, and mobile communications. Kenya's president withdrew the bill, warning that it would force the government to borrow up to 1 trillion Kenyan shillings (approximately $7.7 billion) from foreign markets. The country's public debt is about 10 trillion Kenyan shillings ($77 billion), or about 70% of GDP.