- Ruto on Tuesday announced that the 150-member National Multi-Sectoral Forum (NMSF) would start sittings on Monday, July 15.
- Raila Odinga's endorsement of the talks was immediately met with backlash prompting him to hint at pulling out.
Image: PCS
President William Ruto’s decision to dissolve the entire Cabinet save for the Prime CS undoubtedly now leaves the planned national dialogue in limbo.
Ruto on Tuesday announced that the 150-member National Multi-Sectoral Forum (NMSF) would start sittings on Monday, July 15, and run for six days until Saturday, July 20.
“We welcome every stakeholder to work with us in addressing the existential challenges and threats facing Kenya. Through broad-based political mechanism, we can rally the country forward,” Ruto said after assenting to the IEBC Amendment Bill, 2024 at KICC.
He was flanked by a number of leaders including Azimio leader Raila Odinga whose endorsement of the talks was immediately met with backlash prompting him to hint at pulling out.
Formation of the NMSF followed a series of mass protests which initially pushed for the rejection of the Finance Bill, 2024 but quickly degenerated into demands for better governance and calls for Ruto to step down.
The protesters, largely youthful Kenyans popularly known as Gen Z, also demanded that the President dismiss members of his Cabinet they deemed to be corrupt following their show of opulence.
While announcing the dissolution of his Cabinet, Ruto said he had listened keenly to what the people of Kenya have said and after undertaking a holistic performance appraisal of his Cabinet.
“I have, in line with the powers given to me by Article 152(1) and 152(5)(b) of the Constitution and Section 12 of the Office of the Attorney-General Act, decided to dismiss with immediate effect all the Cabinet Secretaries and the Attorney-General,” Ruto said in his address at State House.
The President said government operations will in the interim continue uninterrupted under the guidance of Principal Secretaries and other relevant officials.
Ruto added that he will in due course announce additional measures but of immediate importance is the formation of a new “broad-based government” after extensive consultations.
“I will immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations, with the aim of setting up a broad-based government that will assist me in accelerating and expediting the necessary, urgent and irreversible, implementation of radical programmes,” the President said.
This now begs the question of whether the extensive consultations will be under the NMSF or whether the Head of State will chart a new platform for stakeholder engagements.
With the announcement of the start of the NMSF already having received negative reviews from Kenyans, including from insiders of Ruto’s new-found ally Raila Odinga, the national dialogue could come a cropper.
Raila said he had been informed the Gen Z were against the talks and wanted him out stating that the country does not need dialogue to resolve its problems currently facing it.
The Gen Z said the country does not need dialogue to arrest killer cops, sack corrupt officials, audit public debt, post medical interns or end incompetence.
The youth also expressed concern that the dialogue could lead to a Ruto-Raila handshake, an arrangement they sternly discouraged.
“Nimeambiwa na hawa viongozi kwamba mumesema hamtaki handshake. Ujumbe umefika (I have been told by these leaders that you don’t want handshake. Your message is received),” Raila said.
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka equally distanced himself from the planned talks and backed the Gen Z saying dialogue was unnecessary to resolving the country’s challenges.
“Generation Z does not wish to engage in dialogue. They want action and Wiper agrees," Kalonzo said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The Dialogue Gen Z and Kenyans are demanding is that Parliament stands dissolved, a snap election be called, and that Ruto steps down. And Wiper Democratic Movement agrees," he added.