By Tajeu Shadrack Nkapapa
President William Ruto during a press briefing on Friday afternoon at State House banned all state officers and public servants from participating in harambees and public contribution.
This resulted from the two weeks of Gen Z anti-government protests across the country which accused state officers and elected leaders of corruption.
During the protests, it came out clearly from the angry young people that they were concerned about the displaying of opulence by senior government officials that did not reflect their earnings or the businesses they were doing.
The protesters said that the millions of shillings displayed by the politicians and the high-end vehicles they drive are proceeds of corruption making the people of Kenya suffer on government terms as there is no money for projects and employment.
“No State officer or public servant shall participate in public contributions or harambees henceforth,” directed the Head of State.
“The Attorney General is hereby directed to prepare and submit legislation to this effect and develop a mechanism for structured and transparent contributions for public, charitable, and philanthropic purposes,” the President said.
He announced further austerity measures that will cut across some government departments and agencies as a way to fit in the slashed budget after withdrawing the Finance Bill 2024 which was supposed to help the government raise an extra source revenue of 346 billion.
“Similarly, the budgetary provisions for confidential budgets in various Executive offices, including my office, shall be removed, and the budget for renovations across the government reduced by 50%,” Ruto said.
“The purchase of new motor vehicles by the government is suspended for 12 months, except for security agencies. A new policy on transport for public officers will be developed within this period,” he added.
The President also announced mandatory and immediate retirement for persons who have attained the age of 60 years with no extensions to their tenure of service.
“These measures will be followed by changes in government that I will be making shortly,” said President Ruto.