President William Ruto is scheduled to preside over a critical cabinet meeting today, the first since huge protests broke out across the country.

The meeting comes as Ruto faces increasing pressure to fire several of his cabinet secretaries for alleged incompetence and mismanagement.

Ruto last led a cabinet meeting on June 11.

According to sources in the presidential office, today’s cabinet meeting will address these issues directly.

“He is expected to discuss the performance of key cabinet secretaries,” said the source.

Defence cabinet secretary Aden Duale said in a TV interview on Wednesday that the president has the authority to reorganise for better service delivery.

“If the President feels I have let him down as a Minister of Defence, I want him to do the right thing, not only start with me and all the rest who have let him down, in the interest of the Kenyans and tell us to step aside, I will have a new team. I am ready,” he said.

The cabinet is also scheduled to consider the new austerity measures recommended by the head of state in response to the budget shortfall and the rejection of the finance bill.

The summit will also discuss crucial national concerns presented by the youth and the general Kenyan population.

The protests began two weeks ago, with Kenyans putting pressure on MPs to reject the Finance Bill 2024 due to purported punitive tax provisions.

However, even after Ruto declined to agree to the Bill, protests continued in various parts of the country, resulting in looting and destruction of private and public property worth billions of shilling.

Ruto stated in an interview on Sunday that the damages inflicted by demonstrators who attacked parliament, the chief justice’s office, and a portion of city hall totaled more than Sh2.4 billion.