President William Ruto of Kenya has made more concessions to protesters amidst the deadly protest that has rocked the east African country for close to a month.
The protest which was sparked by Ruto’s government’s plan to increase taxes in the country has lasted for three weeks, even as the protesters have promised to press on until President Ruto stepped down.
The Kenyan President had initially refused to sign the Tax Bill passed by the National Assembly as a way of placating the protesters who are angry over the difficult economic situation in the country.
The action taken so far by the government appears not to be enough for the protesters to abandon their action, particularly, after scores of youths were killed by riot policemen.
The protesters are now demanding the resignation of President Ruto’s government in the face of the bloodshed that has rocked the country in a month.
Amidst the demand that he stepped down as the country’s president, Ruto on Friday took more decisive steps to appease the growing number of protesters who have sacked the capital , and other major cities in the country.
These includes, the scrapping of the budget for the offices of Kenya’s first and second ladies.
President Ruto said in a national broadcast today that his government has also dissolved 47 agencies, apart from suspending non-essential travels for government officials.
“The number of advisors in government” has been slashed “by 50% immediately,” he said.
“The operations of the office of the first lady, second lady and the wife of the prime cabinet will be removed,” Ruto added.
He added that “all non-essential travel by state and public officers “is hereby suspended,” and “no state officer or public servant will participate in harambee.”
He said, “In keeping up with the austerity measures we promised, 47 State corporations with overlapping and duplicating functions to be dissolved and affected staff to be transferred to other ministries.”
For three straight weeks, protesters marched on the streets of Kenya, disrupting commercial activities, including marching on the parliament, chasing the country’s lawmakers away.
