Why Kenya police chief was forced to resign by president in wake of fallout from deadly protests
President William Ruto has sought to respond to the social outcry with a series of steps. He withdrew the tax hike proposal and on Thursday he followed up by dismissing almost all of his Cabinet ministers. He vowed to form a new government that will be lean and efficient.
‘You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, revolutionary Gen-Z are ready to storm State House and uproot Kenya’s corrupt president’
The opposition, meanwhile, has been surprised by its newfound irrelevance. Like the 19th century French politician Alexandre Ledru-Rollin, who during the French revolution is said to have declared, “There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader”, opposition leaders are belatedly rushing to hitch their wagon to the movement. How far their light has dimmed is illustrated by contrasting today’s movement with their attempt last year to capitalise on popular discontent over tax hikes, which failed to generate much lasting political pressure.
Kenya’s youth cause President Ruto to fire entire cabinet, country braces new appointments
The sweeping cabinet changes were what Kenyans have been asking for, veteran anti-corruption activist John Githongo said
Moody’s pushes Kenya’s credit rating deeper into junk upon withdrawal of planned tax hikes
Moody’s said that while the spending cuts should narrow fiscal deficit, it would be at a more gradual pace than previously assumed, and as a result expect Kenya’s debt affordability to remain weaker for longer.
New report says Kenyan police force and their Haitian hosts retake largest public hospital from gangs
Rameau Normil, the new head of the Haiti National Police, says police took control of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, also known as the General Hospital, on Sunday night. In their effort to topple Haiti’s previous governments, armed groups have torched and looted more than 30 private and public health facilities in metropolitan Port-au-Prince since February 29.
Kenyan police force in Haiti promises ‘no room for failure’ against powerful gangs
The UN-backed mission, to which the United States has pledged over $300 million in support, has been questioned from the start. At home, Kenyan police have long been accused by watchdogs and witnesses of human rights abuses, including in recent protests.
Under pressure Kenya president apologises for arrogant government officials, police brutality
The president said the police are independent and not controlled by the executive branch of government but promised to ensure that those responsible would be prosecuted. “I am ultimately responsible because I am president, and that is why I said it was regrettable,” Ruto said.
How past abuse-ridden foreign interventions feed fears in Haiti that Kenyan forces are US pawns
Fears of a new occupation are still strong among Haitians, many of whom hold the US responsible for the current chaos. The US supported Henry and is often perceived as having propped up a corrupt elite with links to gangs they sometimes trained, and to have done little to stop the massive smuggling of weapons and munitions into Haiti.
Gang violence in Haiti drops as Kenyan police start street patrols but fears of trouble linger
Several hundred Kenyan police officers landed in Port-au-Prince on June 25, four months after gangs joined forces in a coalition called Viv Ansanm (Live Together) on February 29, starting a rebellion that plunged the country into violent chaos and forcing acting prime minister Ariel Henry to flee, then resign.
Kenya rights groups accuse Ruto regime welcoming back abductions to t crack down on protests
Organised online and leaderless, the protests – initially a call to repeal tax hikes – have developed into a movement that has cut across Kenya’s traditional ethnic divisions, becoming the biggest threat of William Ruto’s two-year-old presidency.
