Kenya president retains 6 former Cabinet ministers in first batch of appointments

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday appointed the first 11 members of his Cabinet, retaining six former ministers in the key portfolios of defense and interior.

Last week, Ruto dismissed all but one minister and said he would form a broad-based government that would help him address issues that led to monthlong protests. The protests started as calls for legislators to vote against a finance bill that was proposing new taxes and later morphed to calls for the president’s resignation over bad governance.

The president on Friday retained the former ministers in interior and defense, but he has yet to appoint a finance minister, under whose area of responsibility the contentious budget falls. The country’s public debt has been increasing and Ruto defended the proposed taxes as a way to repay debt and increase internal revenue collection.

Demonstrators have been calling for a fresh start accusing the former ministers of incompetence, corruption and displays of opulence amid the high cost of living.

The interior ministry, under which the police falls, has been often criticized for the shooting and killings of protesters on June 25 as they stormed parliament.

Shortly before the president’s announcement, opposition coalition members on Friday distanced themselves from the proposal to form a broad-based government, calling it a “betrayal of the Kenyan people, particularly Gen Zs and millennials,” who have been leading the protests calling for change.

Opposition figure Kalonzo Musyoka called the Cabinet change “cosmetic,” saying nothing will change as long as the Ruto administration is in office. He said that any opposition party joining the broad-based government will be doing so as an individual party and not as the opposition coalition.

Main opposition leader Raila Odinga wasn’t present during the opposition coalition media briefing.

Kenya’s monthlong protests started on June 18 led by young people who stated they were leaderless and tribeless in their calls for change, accountability and good governance.

At least 50 people have died since the protests started and more than 400 others have been injured, according to data from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

A court on Thursday suspended a ban by police on protests in the capital, Nairobi.