Just six weeks ago, the route Traveling to Washington to meet with President BidenThis was the first state visit by an African president since 2008. The visit demonstrated that Kenya’s vibrant democracy, longstanding security cooperation and free-market policies have cemented its status as America’s closest ally in an increasingly volatile region.
Root also spoke about his commitment to environmental issues and recent Kenyan police deployed to Haiti to restore order To a gang-plagued Caribbean country.
But like other leaders across Africa, Ruto faces growing anger from his own people. A generation coming of age, with an average age of 18, faces a future of unemployment and rising prices and is increasingly resentful of government waste and corruption. In many countries, that anger has fueled coups that have toppled longtime Western allies or fomented revolutions that have degenerated into civil war or failed amid brutal repression.
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“Recent events have brought us to a turning point,” Ruto said in a brief television address as he announced the dismissal of all cabinet ministers except the attorney-general, chief executive officer and foreign minister. “I intend to slay the dragon of corruption.”
Kenyan protesters forced the government to make a series of concessions They are fighting for a future in which young, educated voters can demand change, and their determination is sending nervous shivers down other African governments grappling with angry youth at home. Ghanaian lawmakers recently Protests as a reason to pass responsible laws.
“His firing of ministers is a step in the right direction because they were part of a bigger problem,” said Happy Oral, coordinator of a coalition of informal settlement-based human rights groups, who was visiting injured protesters in hospital on Thursday. “But we still insist on police accountability. … Dialogue is not easy without justice.”
Governor Ruto initially denounced the protesters as criminals but has since sought to adopt a more conciliatory tone. After the Capitol was attacked and partially set on fireThe president rescinded the finance bill and associated tax hikes that sparked protests and prompted international ratings agencies to downgrade debt-ridden Kenya, before scrapping millions of dollars earmarked for the offices of the first and second ladies.
As the protests continued, Ruto announced limits on the number of advisers in ministries, called for a national dialogue and banned public fundraising, seen by many as a way for politicians to buy influence with stolen cash. But it wasn’t enough.
“This is a political earthquake. It’s completely unprecedented. We haven’t seen such a dramatic decision in Kenya for at least 20 years,” said Murithi Mutiga, Africa program director at the International Crisis Group think tank. “It’s very encouraging.”
Protests have become part of daily life in Nairobi since they began last month.
“No! No! No! Ruto must go!” cried a protester last week, his dreadlocks spilling out as he watched a friend use his iPhone to film young people facing off against police firing tear gas canisters in central Nairobi. Groups of plainclothes police with handcuffs dangling from their belts roamed the streets, searching for masked protesters who were spray-painting slogans on road signs.
Even after the tax hikes were lifted, protesters noted that government officials continue to allocate millions of dollars to buy furniture and fly around on private jets.
In total, 46 people were killed and more than 400 injured, according to the Independent Forensic Unit, a coalition of experts that tracks police brutality and performs autopsies. At least 44 people were detained outside court, some beaten and left in the streets, the group said. The body of one young man was found in the quarry.
Even after the National Diet was set on fire, the media report Protests are taking place in 35 of Kenya’s 47 counties. Organizers have repeatedly called for peace and changed a planned downtown march to a concert in a park on Sunday to reduce the risk of clashes. But lawmakers have seen their offices and businesses burned and social media has been flooded with threats against them.
But the protests have been relatively disciplined, a far cry from the post-election violence that ripped through the country in 2007 when politicians orchestrated attacks on rival ethnic groups. Widespread ethnic cleansing and a massive police crackdown left poor Kenyans burned and more than 1,200 killed. Disgust at the violence led to a new constitution and a national determination not to become pawns of those in power.
“At least we’re burning the right house this time,” motorcycle taxi driver Frank Mugai joked as he discussed the storming of the Capitol with friends during last week’s protests.
“These politicians have been kidding our parents for years, telling us to go to school and learn, but we have learned!” interjected colleague Winston Kegaard.
Crisis Group’s Mutiga said the president recognised the crackdown was not working and that more drastic measures were needed.
“The president understands he can’t crush these protests and he has adapted,” he said. “He’s been rightly criticized for appointing a lackluster Cabinet, but this is an opportunity to assemble a more capable team. Will he seize the opportunity? The younger generation will be watching intently.”
Among the crowd was Boniface Mwangi, a protest organizer and veteran activist who has long campaigned against government corruption, scrawling graffiti around Nairobi depicting politicians as vultures, pigs and hyenas, and who once threw a bucket of blood on a pig in front of Parliament to protest a pay increase for Kenyan lawmakers, who are already the second-highest paid in the world.
The protests are not stopping, he said. Protesters are calling for the removal of the police chief, for police involved in killing protesters to be held accountable, and for an electoral commission to be established so that certain lawmakers can be removed and new elections can be held.
“The anger is still there,” he said. “The Ruto government was the most incompetent government in the history of this country, with corruption allegations, rape allegations, murder allegations… But now Kenyans are speaking one language, the language of accountability. Kenya will never be the same again.”
