When anti-government protests humbled Ruto Cabinet ministers
Nationwide anti-Finance Bill protests that have now morphed into anti-government protests have silenced the once vocal top government officials and politicians allied to President William Ruto.
Perhaps, this absence could be part of the agenda during today’s Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi, that had earlier been scheduled to be held in Mombasa yesterday but postponed at the last minute.
But they are tasting their own medicine, after days of chest-thumping as public anger flared up due to unfavourable policies that the government insensitively implemented without the blessings of Kenyans.
And as Kenyans started taking the law into their hands and went to an extent of storming Parliament to vent their anger, some Cabinet Secretaries who had inconsiderately supported some untenable pro-government legislations in the public domain went underground.
When he first addressed the nation on the day Kenyans stormed Parliament, Ruto was all alone unlike in previous occasions when he is usually surrounded by CSs.
And the next day when he announced the withdrawal of the contentious Finance Bill 2024, the President was only flanked by Kenya Kwanza MPs.
The government officials who have been wielding much power during the entire Kenya Kwanza regime have suddenly disappeared from public view, leaving citizens in a state of uncertainty.
They are no longer visible in public gatherings and a quick rundown on their social media accounts shows that they have gone mute as well.
Perhaps, the most noticeable sign of their exit from the public limelight is the sudden silence of sirens mounted in flag-flying fuel-guzzling speeding Toyota Prados that are dangerously driven on the wrong side of city roads with their security detail sticking walkie-talkies out of the window to warn other motorists.
Not affected
Save for Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, whose official schedule has not been affected by the ongoing protests in any way, all the Cabinet and Principal Secretaries have taken a break from public engagements in what could be akin to what happened in 1975 after the murder of Nyandarua North MP JM Karuiki.
It is said that due to the mounting public anger over the murder of the popular MP, all Ministers serving in Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s government removed their ministerial flags from their official vehicles and took cover in their gated residences.
Perturbed by the turn of events, the late Kenyatta held a crisis Cabinet Meeting where each of the ministers was forced to declare their loyalty to him.
Cabinet Secretaries Musalia Mudavadi (Prime CS and Foreign Affairs), Prof Kithure Kindiki (Interior), Eliud Owalo (ICT), Aden Duale (Defense), Njuguna Ndung’u (Treasury), Moses Kuria (Public), Alice Wahome (Lands), Kipchumba Murkomen ((Transport), Ababu Namwamba (Youth and Sports), Susan Nakhumicha (Health) and Mithika Linturi (Agriculture) whose dockets have been heavy with daily public engagements have been missing in action since the protests began.
Also conspicuously missing in action are National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, Kamau Ichung’wa (Leader of Majority), Sylvanus Osoro (Majority Chief Whip), Ndindi Nyoro (chairman of Budget and Appropriations Committee), Kuria Kimani (Finance Committee), Denis Itumbi (State House operative), David Ndii (Economic Advisor) and Cleophas Malala (UDA Secretary General) among others.
Owalo and Omollo who have been frequently traversing various parts of Nyanza region with some goodies and extolling the positives of the Kenya Kwanza government were missing in action. Owalo is said to have postponed his public engagements in Narok town, Masaai Mara Technical Institute and Emurua Dikir.
But since Monday, Tourism CS Alfred Mutua has been on an overdrive holding several engagements, including addressing the media on the state of tourism in the country ostensibly to signal the government’s existence.
Prior to the eruption of protests that entered week two this week, the majority of them had a full week schedule of events, reading speeches to explain how government policies were aligned with Kenya Kwanza’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
They did not stop at that, many Sundays marked their crescendo of selling President Ruto’s agenda to Kenyans where they accompanied him to church services or spread out in different towns in the country.
And now questions linger in the minds of Kenyans, “Where have they disappeared to? Why the silence at Ruto’s hour of need? Where are they operating from? Have they exhausted government business that they conduct each day of the week?”
The last time Mudavadi waded into the finance bill debate that has degenerated into public rage, he cautioned the National Assembly from voting out the bill warning that it would be a vote of no confidence to President Ruto’s government.
“The ongoing debate about the bill is a political issue as much as it is an economic matter. The Finance Bill is the foundation of any government. Internationally, if the Finance Bill is not passed, the net effect is ni kwamba serikali imengolewa maradakani. It is equal to a vote of no confidence in a government. Si mchezo,” he said
Mudavadi spoke when he presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) offices in Eldama Ravine Constituency, Baringo County four days before the National Assembly voted for the bill.
Resurfaced
The Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary resurfaced on Tuesday when he dispatched a statement to assure the international community that the government is committed to maintaining national security amid the deadly protests that have swept the entire country for the second week in a row.
