President William Ruto has announced that he will implement some of the recommendations made by The Kenyan youth.

The President says he has heard them and appreciates their opinions.

He continued by saying that he would put things into practice that he could, such as reducing government offices and spending.

“My good sons and daughters let me tell you that I value what you do. I have heard what you have said, I have seen what you have done and you have made recommendations. Some, I will outright implement on cutting down on government and cutting down on offices that we can,” Ruto declared.

The Head of State stated the youth have also presented him with difficult decisions, and he will meet with them before the end of the week to discuss how to move forward.

According to Ruto, young people should be ready to participate and should have clear ideas for how the nation should proceed.

“I will deal with some of the issues you have raised. You have given me some difficult choices I will suggest to you how we can together go about the difficult choices you have put on the table on some of the issues. I want to promise you that in the engagement we are going to have, God willing, in the next couple of days. We’ve agreed with some of your colleagues here maybe Thursday, or Friday.”

The President stated that there must be respect during the engagement.

Furthermore, he said, all Kenyans have just one home, therefore they must safeguard it by all means possible and in accordance with the law.

“My request to you is that we have a country to keep. It is the only home we have and we must do whatever it is that we do within the parameters of the law respecting one another and talking to one another with respect so that we can move forward together as a country. I am looking forward to this engagement,” Ruto remarked.

The President addressed during a meeting with Digital Media Houses representatives at State House, Nairobi.

The National Housing Corporation (NHC) is looking to hire 59 people for a variety of professions.

NHC stated that anyone interested should visit careers.nhckekenya.go.ke or www.nhckenya.go.ke/careers in the notice that appeared in the Tuesday edition of My Gov.

According to the Corporation, appointments to Grades 2 and 3 posts will be made for a fixed term of five years, which can be extended after one year provided performance is up to par.

Grades 4 through 12 will be permanent and eligible for pensions.

According to the Corporation, those who are hired will receive a competitive compensation package that is in line with the salary structure.

People with disabilities, the marginalized, and members of minority groups were urged to apply by NHC.

Interested and eligible candidates are requested to apply online via the link on the aforementioned websites.

The Corporation noted that it would not accept applications in hard copy.

“Applications should reach the corporation on or before July 22, 2024, latest 5 pm,” stated the NHC.

President William Ruto has rejected to sign the 2024 Finance Bill.

The Bill will be returned to Parliament before they adjourn today, State House sources told the Star.

The Members of Parliament will need to take into account a number of revisions to the Bill that the Head of State has suggested.

Parliament has the option to pass the Bill again without changes or modify it in light of the president’s concerns.

The president will highlight important provisions that require revisions when he returns the finance bill.

The speaker will then resubmit the bill to the president for approval if the MPs adequately address the President’s concerns.

The House may repass the bill without revisions or with amendments that do not entirely address the president’s concerns if it takes his reservations into consideration.

Two-thirds of the members, however, had to have agreed with this.

With MPs scheduled to leave on recess from today until July 23, if the President returns the document to Parliament, the speaker may have to recall them.

A few of the tax proposals that were previously included in the bill are the following: a 16 percent VAT on bread, an excise duty on vegetable oil, a 2 percent motor vehicle tax, an eco levy on items manufactured locally, and a VAT on the transportation of sugar.

They were later dropped.

Following these changes, the bill was approved by the house committee.

The committee of the whole house model provides for a comprehensive analysis of each provision before the measure moves on to the next phases of legislative review.

Concerns have been expressed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the violence that occurred during the demonstrations in Kenya against the Finance Bill 2024.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Guterres pleaded with Kenyan authorities to allow nonviolent protests in order to prevent more injuries and deaths involving young Kenyans.

“I am deeply saddened by the reports of deaths and injuries – including of journalists and medical personnel – connected to protests and street demonstrations in Kenya, I urge the Kenyan authorities to exercise restraint, and call for all demonstrations to take place peacefully,” he said.

Moussa Faki, the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), reiterated this sentiment, advising all parties involved to remain composed and to embrace productive discourse in order to resolve the divisive problems that sparked the protests.

“The Chairperson reiterates the total solidarity of the African Union with the Government and People of Kenya and exhorts them to maintain peace, security and stability in the country,” stated Faki.

During Tuesday’s large-scale protests, an unknown number of individuals were shot dead, and many more were left with bullet wounds after Anti-Riot Police Unit officers fired live ammunition.

As of 6:36 p.m. on Tuesday, Amnesty International reported that five people had been shot and killed and over 31 people had been injured.

Most protesters insisted they were marching peacefully, while some broke into Parliament buildings and vandalized the property.

Soon after the mayhem broke out and several protestor bodies were observed lying on Parliament Road, lawmakers were evacuated.

President William Ruto referred to the breach of parliament as treasonous in a late-night national address and vowed to take tough measures against the “organizers and financiers of the protests.”

Raila Odinga, the Azimio leader, has offered a blistering condemnation to the government’s handling of protesters, calling on it to delay the Finance Bill.

Raila made strong remarks accusing the government of killing and using brutality against nonviolent protestors.

Without holding back, Raila stated that the nation is paying a “heavy price for the obstinacy” of the government.

He conveyed his profound concern over the brutal suppression of youth demonstrators calling for adjustments to tax laws; in his opinion, these issues ought to have been settled through discussion.

“Matters that should have been resolved through dialogue and humility have degenerated into developments that have never been witnessed in the 61-year history of our country since Independence,” he continued.

Raila’s words came after at least five people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and the police.

Raila expressed her displeasure with the killings, detentions, arrests, and surveillance carried out by the police against youths who are merely trying to get their voices heard against tax laws that are robbing them of their future and present.

Using murders, arrests, and detentions that occurred during the protests as evidence, he further criticized the government for what he described as the purported suspension of constitutional rights.

“The constitution seems to have been suspended. We cannot allow that. The government has unleashed brute force on our country’s children and more seems to be on the way,” he noted.

He reaffirmed his demand that the Finance Bill 2024 be put on hold, pointing out that the protesters’ complaints and annoyances are quite extensive and profound.

“Police must therefore immediately stop shooting innocent, peaceful and unarmed protesting children who are asking for guarantees of a better tomorrow from the State.”

He emphasized that comparable obstacles in the past were settled through communication and urged the government to hold fruitful talks.

“The starting point to ending this impasse and cruel bloodletting is for the government to immediately and unconditionally withdraw the Finance Bill and make way for a fresh start and dialogue.”

He made a plea to regional and international organizations, such as the United Nations, the African Union, and the East African Community, to step in and resolve what he called a crisis that was putting lives and freedoms in jeopardy in Kenya.

“I am calling on the East African Community, the African Union and the United Nations to immediately be seized of the unfolding situation in Kenya to save lives and the country.”

Amidst the ongoing Finance Bills 2024 controversy, which ended in protestors invading the National Assembly on Tuesday, former President Uhuru Kenyatta has advocated for peace.

While lamenting the lives of Kenyans lost in the protests, Uhuru emphasized in a statement to newsrooms how crucial it is for elected officials to pay attention to their people.

At this hard time, I’d like to remind all leaders that they were elected by the people. He stated, “Listening to the people is a mandate that is embedded in the core principles of democracy and philosophy, as well as in the foundations of our constitution. It is not a choice.

“Leaders must know that power and authority they have is donated to them by the people. I therefore call for calm and for the leadership to show restraint and do the right thing by listening to the people.”

Uhuru contends that Kenyans exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protests shouldn’t be met with hostility from the government or the use of force.

“Violence on either side is not the answer. As your former President, I have felt the weight and difficulty of leading Kenya I therefore pray for wisdom and civility to be established and for peace and progress to belong to all of us as children of Kenya,” he said.

Uhuru also asked Kenyans to engage in conversation with the current government.

“I pray for understanding on the part of each and every Kenyan and for all of us to remember that Kenya is bigger than one of us; there is nothing cast in stone that cannot be changed,” said Uhuru.

Tuesday night, President William Ruto declared that the parliamentary breach was treasonous and vowed to take tough measures against the “organizers and financiers of the protests, which are now in their fifth day.”

President Ruto spoke to the nation following a day of protests that killed at least five people and injured over 125 others.

The Head of State said that criminals had taken over a critical discussion, wreaking devastation across the nation and desecrating the August House.

“I hereby put on notice the planners, financiers, orchestrators, and abettors of violence and anarchy that the security infrastructure established to protect our republic and its sovereignty will be to deployed secure the country and restore order and normalcy,” President Ruto stated.

President Ruto said it is unthinkable that criminals masquerading as nonviolent protestors could terrorize citizens, elected officials, and establishments and expect to get away with it.

“We must isolate crime from democratic expression and separate criminals from people exercising their freedom of expression and divergent opinion,” he stated.

A blunt-speaking In order to make sure that something similar would not happen again, Ruto pledged a thorough and timely response to Tuesday’s events.

“I assure Kenyans that we shall provide a full, effective, and expeditious response to today’s treasonous events,” President Ruto stated.

On Tuesday, demonstrators breached the barriers around the parliament building and made their way inside, where MPs were engaged in a heated debate over tax rises that have inflamed public sentiment.

Hundreds of protestors against the Finance Bill stormed into Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

Hours after police opened fire on several protesters outside the Parliament Buildings, the demonstrators made their way inside.

Tensions outside the nation’s legislature intensified, and the demonstrators set fire to several police vehicles.

MPs voted just moments ago to pass the Finance Bill, 2024, which they claim imposes a tsunami of taxes.

For the first time in Kenyan history, demonstrators have scaled barriers and entered the Parliament building in defiance of tight security.

In the past, police have always blocked off the protection and prevented protestors from entering Parliament.

In previous instances, opposition leaders staged demonstrations, but law enforcement managed to bar them from entering Parliament.

After the State House, Parliament is one of the most heavily guarded and secure locations, being a gazetted area.

Security personnel are given greater authority to prevent any infiltration into the legislature as a result of the protected status.

The Finance Bill, 2024 was approved by MPs by a vote of 195 to 106, clearing the path for President William Ruto to sign it into law.

In the past, demonstrators have beaten police and made their way to Parliament Road, where they were able to enter the Parliament Buildings.

Overwhelming anti-riot police, protesters broke into Parliament buildings and set part of them on fire.

The Finance Bill, 2024, which MPs passed on Tuesday with 195 votes in favor and 106 against, is opposed by the multitudes of protesters.

Reports state that several protestors were shot outside of Parliament after the demonstrators tore down the national flag inside the Parliament premises.

There have also been reports of a stampede within Parliament as lawmakers fled to safety.

While police stand watch and await reinforcement and evacuation, a few lawmakers have taken up residence in the Parliament building’s subterranean parking lot.

Notwithstanding a legal challenge to the deployment, a Kenyan force to command a multinational mission backed by the UN to combat gang violence in Haiti left Nairobi late on Monday, according to Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki.

Along with troops from several other countries, Kenya pledged to send 1,000 police to help stabilize Haiti, but the deployment has been beset by ongoing legal issues.

At 10:50 p.m. (1950 GMT), 400 officers departed Nairobi on Kenya Airways, the national airline, headed for Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

“Honoured to see off the first batch of the contingent of the National Police Service officers who are part of the historic United Nations Mission to Haiti,” Kindiki said in a statement, accompanied by images of the officers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Elite personnel from the Kenya Police, Administration Police, General Service Unit, and Rapid Deployment Unit compose the squad.

Hours before the deployment, on Monday, President William Ruto, an ardent advocate of the mission, said a formal farewell to the officers.

The video footage released by the presidency shows that Ruto prayed for the officers and presented them a Kenyan national flag during a ceremony in Nairobi to which the media was not allowed.

According to statements released by his office, Ruto told the officers, “This mission is one of the most urgent, important, and historic in the history of global solidarity.”

“Your presence in Haiti will bring hope and relief to communities torn apart by violence and ravaged by disorder,” he said, adding that the rest of the force will join their colleagues “soon”.

A resolution passed by the UN Security Council in October authorized the deployment; however, a court ruling in Kenya in January prompted a delay.

According to the court, Ruto’s government lacked the right to dispatch officers overseas without first reaching a bilateral agreement.

Even though the government was able to secure that deal with Haiti in March, Thirdway Alliance Kenya, a small opposition group, attempted to thwart it once more by filing a new lawsuit.

Funding and logistical support are being provided by the United States, which has been actively looking for a country to spearhead the mission.