President William Ruto of Kenya has appointed a partly new cabinet on Friday, kicking off a process to build a “broad-based” government following a month of huge and occasionally deadly protests against his administration.
Ruto announced the names of 11 potential ministers in a televised address after firing almost his entire cabinet last week in an effort to defuse the greatest crisis of his nearly two-year rule.
“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.”
He submitted 11 nominees for cabinet ministers and the attorney general for approval by parliament.
Several of those nominated were members of the previous government, including Kithure Kindiki, the head of Kenya’s interior ministry, which oversees the country’s under-fire police force.
