Kenyan President William Ruto poses for a photo with Kenya’s new Deputy President, Kithure Kindiki
| Photo Credit: AFP

Kenya’s new Deputy President Kithure Kindiki was sworn in on Friday (November 1, 2024) after a court lifted orders barring his inauguration following weeks of legal challenges by his predecessor, who was impeached by parliament last month.

The Senate voted to remove Rigathi Gachagua, the previous Deputy President, from office in October on charges including gross violation of the constitution and stirring ethnic hatred — accusations that he rejects and has dismissed as politically motivated.

Kenya’s High Court had put Mr. Kindiki’s inauguration on hold after Mr. Gachagua and his supporters filed over 30 court challenges to prevent his dismissal and replacement.

But the stay order was lifted on Thursday, with judges saying that the deputy President position should not remain vacant according to the constitution.

Mr. Gachagua’s legal battles extended months of political turbulence in the country, East Africa’s largest economy, that began with nationwide protests against unpopular tax hikes in June.

President William Ruto invited Opposition members into his Cabinet to create what he called a unity government in July in an attempt to ease tensions after demonstrators stormed parliament.

The political realignment also sidelined Mr. Gachagua, who during Mr. Ruto’s election campaign helped secure a large block of votes from the populous Mount Kenya region. The two men have since fallen out.

Ruto has not commented on the impeachment proceedings but last month called for national cohesion and an end to “tribalism and exclusion”.

Mr. Gachagua has compared the government to a shareholding company, suggesting that those who had voted for the ruling coalition deserved preferential access to government jobs.

Speaking after Kindiki’s swearing-in, Mr. Ruto told his new deputy to “serve the people of Kenya equally, those who voted for us and those who did not vote for us. The government of Kenya equally belongs to all the people.”

Mr. Kindiki was a leading contender to be Ruto’s running mate during the 2022 election and was appointed interior minister shortly after the president took office in September that year.

Kenya’s President William Ruto. The ballooning debt in East Africa’s economic hub of Kenya is expected to grow even more after deadly protests forced the rejection of a finance bill that President William Ruto said was needed to raise revenue.
| Photo Credit: AP

The ballooning debt in East Africa’s economic hub of Kenya is expected to grow even more after deadly protests forced the rejection of a finance bill that President William Ruto said was needed to raise revenue. He now warns “it will have huge consequences.”

Facing public calls to resign, Mr. Ruto has said the government will turn to slashing a $2.7 billion budget deficit by half and borrowing the rest, without saying from where.

After anger over the bloated bureaucracy and luxurious lives of senior officials helped to fuel the protests, Mr. Ruto also has promised funding cuts in his own office and said the funding would stop for the offices of the first lady, the “second lady” — the wife of the Vice President — and the wife of the prime Cabinet secretary. Almost four dozen state enterprises with overlapping roles will be closed.

Mr. Ruto has become deeply unpopular in his two years in office over his quest to introduce taxes meant to enable Kenya to repay its $80 billion public debt to lenders including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and China.

The public debt makes up about 70% of Kenya’s gross domestic product, the highest in 20 years.

How Mr. Ruto’s administration will find the money to pay off debt without further angering millions of Kenyans barely getting by, and without slowing down the economy, is the key question. The economy grew 5.6% in 2023.

Economist Mbui Wagacha, a former adviser to previous President Uhuru Kenyatta, said Kenya needs a professional budget and management body like the Office of Management and Budget in the U.S. Currently, Kenya’s treasury makes budget estimates and forwards them to the parliamentary finance committee, which creates the finance bills.

“Parliament has abdicated its mandate on the public finances in the Constitution and it’s looking after its own interests,” Mr. Wagacha said in an interview.

He said further borrowing by Kenya could be “disastrous” and proposed a strategy of using diplomacy to attract investment and restructuring the debt in an attempt to get creditors to write off some of it.

Another economist, Ken Gichinga, agreed that government borrowing will slow down Kenya’s economy. Businesses still haven’t recovered from the effects of the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, he said.

“When the government borrows more, interest rates go up. And when interest rates go up, businesses slow down, the economy slows down, due to the high cost of repayment,” Gichinga said.

Kenya’s President has advocated self-sustainability, saying the country should raise more revenue instead of borrowing. “If we are a serious state, we must be able to enhance our taxes,” he said in May.

But Kenyans have rejected attempts to raise taxes as they struggle with rising prices on basic goods, even storming parliament during the recent protests.

Last week, days after announcing he would not sign the finance bill he once championed, Mr. Ruto said he had worked hard “to pull Kenya out of a debt trap” and that huge consequences lie ahead.

Mr. Wagacha said economic growth must come before the government increases revenue targets and tax collection.

“You create an expanded economy with employment and with investment, and people have money in their pockets. It’s much easier for them to hear about your request for taxes,” he said.

He suggested making access to low-interest credit easier for businesses in key sectors like tourism and agriculture, saying small businesses hold the key to Kenya’s economic growth as they tend to absorb many employees. That could help address high youth unemployment.

The government should incentivize businesses to create jobs with low taxation and lower interest rates, Mr. Gichinga said: “At the end of the day, we need a jobs-centred economic policy. That’s what we’ve been lacking.”

The IMF, which had suggested some of the controversial tax changes, has been a target of Kenya’s public dissatisfaction. Some protesters had posters with messages such as “IMF stop colonialism.”

In a statement late last month, the IMF said it was monitoring the situation in Kenya, adding that its main goal was to help it “overcome the difficult economic challenges it faces and improve its economic prospects and the well-being of its people.”

The IMF needs to do more for Kenya beyond focusing on debt sustainability and be a “strong development partner,” Mr. Gichinga said.

Kenyan President William Ruto
| Photo Credit: AFP

Hundreds of people marched in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on June 30, to honour those who died in anti-government demonstrations this week, as President William Ruto insisted that: “I have no blood on my hands.”

Rights groups say at least 30 people died in protests driven by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the East African country.

Following the violence, Mr. Ruto announced an about-turn earlier this week, saying he would “listen to the people” and would not sign the finance bill into law.

Mr. Ruto, in a television interview, put the toll at 19 – the first figures issued by the authorities – and promised a full investigation into the deaths.

Largely peaceful rallies turned violent last Tuesday when lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular tax increases following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Police opened fire on protesters who stormed the parliament complex and a fire broke out.

“I have no blood on my hands,” said Mr. Ruto during the interview with Kenyan TV.

Referring to the deaths, he said: “It is very unfortunate. As a democracy that should not be part of our conversation…”

“There will be an investigation on how these 19 Kenyans died,” he added. “There will be an explanation for each and every one of them.

“The police have done the best they could,” said Mr. Ruto.

“If there have been any excesses, we have mechanisms to make sure that those excesses are dealt with.”

And he added: “Any killer cop who went beyond what is provided for in the law will have action taken against them.”

‘We will catch’ criminals

But he warned that those who had attacked parliament would also be held accountable.

“Criminals infiltrated and caused mayhem,” he said. “Those who attacked Parliament and the judiciary are on CCTV.”

“Many of them are on the run but we will catch them,” he added.

Going back over his decision to scrap the finance bill at the last moment, Ruto said: “It means that we have gone back almost two years” and meant the government would have to borrow heavily.

But he acknowledged: “We should have communicated better.

“If I am given a chance to explain to the people of Kenya what the finance bill was all about and what it would have done for them, then every Kenyan would agree with me.”

The clashes were unprecedented in the history of the country since its independence from Britain in 1963.

On Saturday, a few hundred people gathered in Uhuru Park in central Nairobi following an appeal on media.

After singing and lighting candles, they waved Kenyan flags and chanted as they marched past the hospital where some of the injured protesters are being treated.

Demonstrators dispersed peacefully late in the afternoon.

Kenyan President William Ruto said on June 26 he won’t sign into law a finance bill proposing new taxes, a day after protesters stormed parliament and several people were shot dead. It was the biggest assault on Kenya’s government in decades.

The government wanted to raise funds to pay off debt, but Kenyans said the bill caused more economic pain as millions struggle to get by. The chaos on Tuesday led the government to deploy the military, and Ruto called protesters’ actions “treasonous.”

The president now says the bill caused “widespread dissatisfaction” and he has listened and “conceded.” It’s a major setback for Ruto, who came to power vowing to help Kenyans cope with rising costs but has seen much of the country, led by youth, unite in opposition to his latest attempt at reforms.

“It is necessary for us to have a conversation as a nation on how to do we manage the affairs of the country together,” he said.

Kenyans faced the lingering smell of tear gas and military in the streets a day after the latest protests saw thousands storm parliament, an act of defiance that Ruto had called an “existential” threat. At least 22 people were killed, a human rights group said, and police were accused of some shooting deaths.

Ruto acknowledged deaths, calling it an “unfortunate situation,” and offered condolences. He said about 200 people had been wounded.

Nairobi has seen protests in the past, but activists and others warned the stakes were more dangerous. Ruto on Tuesday vowed to quash unrest “at whatever cost,” even as more protests were called at State House on Thursday.

“We are dealing with a new phenomenon and a group of people that is not predictable. If it would have been the normal demonstrations, I’d say it will fizzle out with time, but we don’t know whether these people will fear the army,” said Herman Manyora, an analyst and professor at the University of Nairobi.

He said the president missed an opportunity in his national address Tuesday night to adopt a more conciliatory approach.

Kenya’s High Court on Wednesday ordered the military deployment suspended after a challenge by the Kenya Law Society.

Kenyans united beyond tribal and other divisions in the effort to keep the finance bill from becoming law. It would have raised taxes and fees on a range of daily items and services, from egg imports to bank transfers.

There were no reports of violence Wednesday, but there was fear. Civil society groups have reported abductions of people involved in recent protests and expect more to come. The High Court ordered police to release all people arrested in the protests. Ruto said those allegedly abducted had been released or processed in court.

Many young people who helped vote Ruto into power in 2022 with cheers for his promises of economic relief now object to the pain of reforms. Part of the parliament building burned Tuesday, and clashes occurred in several communities beyond the capital.

At least 22 people were killed, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission said. Commission chairperson Roseline Odede said 300 others were injured and 50 people were arrested.

The mother of a teenager killed, Edith Wanjiku, told journalists at a morgue that the police who shot her son should be charged with murder because her 19-year-old son had been unarmed.

“He had just completed school and was peacefully protesting,” she said.

Parliament, city hall and the supreme court were cordoned off with tape reading “Crime Scene Do Not Enter.” Authorities said police fired over 700 blanks to disperse protesters in the Nairobi suburb of Githurai overnight.

“My plea to the president is to listen to us and understand that this financial bill they want to pass is not as important as people’s lives,” said one Nairobi businessman, Gideon Hamisi. “Many young people lost their lives yesterday. I am a young man, and I feel deeply pained by what transpired.”

Opposition leader Raila Odinga called for dialogue, asserting that Kenya’s constitution had been suspended. “Kenya cannot afford to kill its children just because the children are asking for food, jobs and a listening ear,” he said in a statement.

In Nairobi, a regional hub for expatriates and home to a United Nations complex, inequality among Kenyans has sharpened along with long-held frustrations over state corruption. The booming young population is also frustrated by the lavish lifestyles of politicians including the president. Some who had passionately supported Ruto, who won power by portraying himself as a “hustler” of humble background, feel betrayed.

The youth, commonly referred to as Gen Zs, mobilized the protests and sought to keep lawmakers from approving the finance bill Tuesday. Ruto had had two weeks to sign the bill into law.

The president’s concession was “self preservation” by a leader worried about his reputation, opposition Sen. Edwin Sifuna wrote on X.

The events are a sharp turn for Ruto, who has been embraced by the United States as a welcome partner in Africa while frustration grows elsewhere on the continent with the U.S. and some other Western powers.

In May, Ruto went to Washington in the first state visit by an African leader in 16 years. On Tuesday, as the protests exploded, the U.S designated Kenya as its first major non-NATO ally in sub-Saharan Africa, a largely symbolic act but one highlighting their security partnership. Also Tuesday, hundreds of Kenyan police deployed to lead a multinational force against gangs in Haiti, an initiative that brought thanks from U.S. President Joe Biden.

Now Kenya’s government, along with protesters, face pleas for calm from partners including the U.S., which joined a dozen other nations in a statement Tuesday expressing “deep concern” over the violence and abductions.

“How did we get here?” Kenya’s vice president, Rigathi Gachagua, asked Wednesday in nationally broadcast comments after the president’s turnabout, openly wondering how the government had become so unpopular in just two years. “We were the darling of the Kenyan people.”