President William Ruto announces 11 appointments, including six cabinet members who were sacked last week.
Kenyan President William Ruto has announced a partial cabinet following weeks of anti-government protests.
In a televised speech on Friday, Ruto announced 11 appointments, which include six members of the previous cabinet.
The East African nation has been rocked by a month of protests that began as peaceful demonstrations against tax increases but evolved into a broader anti-government campaign calling for Ruto to resign.
At least 50 people have died since the protests began on June 18, according to the Kenyan National Commission for Human Rights.
Last week, Ruto fired almost his entire cabinet, one of a series of measures designed to placate protesters, but protests also took place this week.
Ruto said in his speech that the events of last month had caused “tremendous anxiety, worry and uncertainty”.
“The crisis has presented us as a nation with a great opportunity to create a broad and inclusive citizens’ coalition for national transformation and progress, made up of Kenyans from all walks of life,” Ruto said in his speech.
“Consequently, I have begun the process of forming a new broad-based cabinet to help drive the urgently needed and irreversible transformation of our country.”
The Ministers of Interior, Defense, Environment and Lands were reappointed.
Kithure Kindiki, head of the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, is also in charge of Kenya’s police force, which is currently facing scrutiny for its response to the protests.
The appointments, which must be approved by parliament, also include Kenya’s first female attorney general.
But activists quickly rejected Ruto’s nominations and published images with “Rejected” written above the list.
Opposition coalition Azimio criticized Ruto’s announcement as a “cosmetic” change and said it would not join a national unity government led by Ruto’s Kenyan Kwanza.
“This is a betrayal of the Kenyan people, particularly Gen Z and millennials who paid the ultimate price to free this country from the disastrous Kenya Kwanza regime,” he said in a statement.
Protesters rejected the idea of a unity government, saying a deal between rival parties would only continue a tradition in Kenyan politics of leaders co-opting the opposition with jobs and perks while the population sees no benefits.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
