By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Embattled President of Kenya, William Ruto, on Friday named a partial new cabinet as he starts what he called a process to form a “broad-based” government.
This follows weeks of deadly protests against his administration over a now dropped finance tax bill which sought to increase tax.
In a televised address on Friday, Ruto unveiled the names of 11 proposed ministers, after last week sacking of almost his entire cabinet as he seeks to deal with the worst crisis of his nearly two-year presidency.
However, among the 11 ministerial nominees, six were members of the cabinet he sacked just last week.
“While the events of the past month have caused tremendous anxiety, concern and uncertainty, the crisis has presented us with a great opportunity, as a nation, to craft a broad-based, and inclusive citizen coalition for national transformation and progress, made up of Kenyans from all walks of life,” Ruto said.
“Consequently, I have started the process of forming a new broad based cabinet to assist in driving the urgently needed and irreversible transformation of our country.”
The 11 nominees are expected to be screened and confirmed by the parliamentarians.
Recently, the anti-tax protesters have been calling for President Ruto to resign.
After Mr Ruto sacked his cabinet last Thursday, Kenya’s police chief also resigned.
Human rights groups had accused police of shooting dozens of protesters, some of them fatally, and abducting or arbitrarily arresting hundreds more.
