Last Supper: Inside Ruto’s Anticipated Changes In The Cabinet

President William Ruto is expected to make radical changes in his government amid pressure from Gen Zs, who’ve staged massive protests against his administration in the past few weeks.

State House sources now indicate the president has been consulting widely about cutting down the size of his cabinet, which has been one of the biggest issues raised by the protesters who feel it’s bloated for the struggling economy.

The looming shakeup will see some ministries abolished and merged, several departments merged, and an array of state corporations disbanded.

In the new anticipated line-up, there will be 15 ministries as opposed to the current 22, which will be reorganised as follows: Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, and National Treasury.

Others are the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and EAC; the Ministry of Labour and Public Service; and the Ministry of Affirmative Action, Youth, and Gender.

The reorganisation will lead to the creation of the Ministry for Water, Forestry, and Environment, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth, and Sports, the Ministry of Infrastructure, Lands, Housing, Public Works, Roads, the Ministry of Economic Planning, MITI, SME, Cooperatives, Delivery Unit, ICT, and the Attorney General.

At the same time, 15 principal secretaries will lose their jobs in the shakeup in response to austerity measures announced by President Ruto to tame the runaway wage bill, which has been gobbling up almost all the revenue collected domestically.

During the countrywide protests organised by Generation Z, the president has been under pressure to reduce the size of his cabinet and scrap some departments.

In a related development, 43 parastatal chiefs will be shown the door when their entities are scrapped.

Senate call

Senators on Wednesday charged that changes must be made in the cabinet, accusing some of the Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) of underperforming.

Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale also hinted at the looming changes in government, saying he was ready to resign if he had failed the President in delivering his mandate. In an interview with one of the local TV stations, Duale said he supports the calls to have a cabinet reshuffle to weed out individuals who have failed to perform their duties.

“If the President feels I have let him down as Minister for Defence, I want him to do the right thing. Start with me and all the rest who have let him down in the interest of all the people of Kenya, and tell us to step aside to have a new team. I am ready; look at me; quote me,” Duale stated.

“The people of Kenya, through former President Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, have given me a chance to serve, but if I am part of the problem that is bedevilling the country and our state affairs, let him (Ruto) start with me,” he affirmed.