President Ruto’s Decision To Dissolve The Cabinet Is A Move In Right Direction

By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga

Worth Noting:

• With this, the President had drawn the line and it was only a matter of time before the he cracked the whip and sent them home.
• As per the constitution, the prerogative to hire and fire members of the cabinet lies squarely with the President. The role bestowed on them is delegated. The President is the CEO of Kenya and he hires them to help him discharge the constitutional mandate of his office.
• Since he assumed office, the President curves a niche of being a strong believer in the tenet of democracy and rule of law.
• When addressing Kenyans in many parts of the country, he would always aver. Kenya belongs to all of us.

President William Ruto has made a bold move of dissolving the entire cabinet.

Coming hot on heels of the recent protests led by Generation-Z and millennials, the move demonstrated he is committed to walk the talk.

Reconstituting and creating a broad based and all-inclusive cabinet was one of the key demands of the young people.

The President had earlier read several riot acts to his cabinet secretaries (CSs).

In the eyes of the public, your performance is below expectation.

Therefore, you have been letting down my government.

Some of you are totally clueless about what you are supposed to do.

I even know more than you regarding the mandate of your respective ministries.

So, I don’t see the point of having you in my cabinet.

With this, the President had drawn the line and it was only a matter of time before the he cracked the whip and sent them home.

As per the constitution, the prerogative to hire and fire members of the cabinet lies squarely with the President. The role bestowed on them is delegated. The President is the CEO of Kenya and he hires them to help him discharge the constitutional mandate of his office.

Since he assumed office, the President curves a niche of being a strong believer in the tenet of democracy and rule of law.

When addressing Kenyans in many parts of the country, he would always aver. Kenya belongs to all of us.

So, his new-look cabinet will reflect the face of Kenya.

Already, the talk is rife that he is poised to form a government of national unity.

If this happen, President Ruto will follow the footsteps of former President Mwai Kibaki.

In the aftermath of 2007/2008 post election violence, Kibaki caved in to pressure and agreed to form a unity government with ODM leader Raila Odinga.

The only difference at the time was that the pressure came from the international community.

For President Ruto, he has so far managed to use his wisdom to contain pockets of violence and prevent Kenya from sliding into a full blown anarchy.

The other key demand raised by Generation-Z and millennials touched on reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

A few days ago, the President signed the IEBC Bill into law paving the way for the recruitment of the commissioners.

The Bill emanated from the talks held at the Bomas of Kenya.

The 10-member national dialogue committee (NADCO) was co-chaired by national assembly majority leader Kimani Ichungwah and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.

The President was flanked opposition leaders led by Raila Odinga during the signing ceremony held at KICC.

The new law to reform the IEBC is a product of the views and memoranda presented by the people of Kenya during the public hearings.

So, we have no reason to doubt that this process will lead to formation of a truly independent commission.

We want to assure Kenyans that the commissioners will conduct a free, fair and credible polls in 2027, the opposition leaders reiterated.

I have heard some members of Gen-Z expressing reservations to the steps that President Ruto has so far made.

A friend of mine told me. Those were extremists who had coined a Hastag of ‘RutoMustGoNow’.

We know their ultimate goal was to attempt to overthrow President Ruto through popular uprisings.

So, they won’t see anything good that the President was doing.

Why their bid won’t see the light of day? Majority of Kenyans abhor use of unconstitutional means to remove a democratically government from power.

It is worth to note the protests were triggered by Finance Bill 2024.

After Gen-Z failed to stop MPs from passing the Bill they turned the heat on the President. The President conceded and declined to sign the Bill into law. Besides, he rolled out a raft of austerity measures.

But some of the young leaders, who were perceived to be hardliners, would not call off protests.

For two days, the protests were infiltrated by goons and criminal gangs. The turnout was however low.

As majority of young leaders distanced themselves from these protests, they would pose. These criminal minded protestors, what were they up to?

The President has already conceded. We are contented.

He is our President until 2027 general election. In these elections, we will either renew his contract of five years or terminate it.

Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a Writer and Political Analyst based in Nairobi