Kenyan President William Ruto has set up a historic public online forum with anti-tax protesters on social media platform X Spaces, saying he will be there to listen.
His 31-year-old daughter Charlene Ruto called him “the first president in the world to hold virtual meetings with all Generation Z”.
That’s a reference to the young man behind the recent protests that have shaken her father’s presidency.
Demonstrations against his finance bill were organized through X Spaces, a feature that allows users to engage in real-time audio conversations with others on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
A section of Kenyans on X vowed to boycott the president’s chat and planned to create a parallel space to counter the conversation.
They believe Mr Ruto is already aware of their demands.
The president arrived about 45 minutes late for the meeting and appeared to be plagued by technical difficulties.
Anger over proposed tax increases forced President Ruto to say he would withdraw the bill aimed at helping ease Kenya’s debt burden of more than $80bn (£63bn).
A state-funded human rights commission estimated that more than 40 people died during the protests, most of them on the day lawmakers passed the bill last week. The interior ministry said 25 protesters were killed.
The demonstrations have since evolved into calls for Ruto to resign and for security forces to be held accountable for killing protesters.
Ahead of the X Space conference, President Ruto addressed the nation on television, promising a series of cuts including:
- Disband 47 state-owned companies with overlapping functions
- Six-month moratorium on new car purchases for state officials
- Suspension of all non-essential travel by state officials
- Government consultants reduced by 50%
- Eliminate the budgets for the first lady and the spouses of the vice president and cabinet ministers.
- It is mandatory for civil servants to retire at the age of 60.
President Ruto began his speech by expressing condolences, but said this “difficult period” was an opportunity for the country:
“We are finally having the right conversations, not about our tribes, personalities or political formations, but about the issues that affect each of us: issues like taxes, debt, budgets, corruption, cost of living, unemployment, and the problems of our young people. Chance.
His X Space is called #EngageThePresident and is expected to end Between 11:00 and 14:00 GMT (14:00 to 17:00 local time).
His daughter Charlene opened up about the opportunity to speak directly with the president for three hours on Twitter.
“Young people, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is waiting for you.” she posted.
“I encourage you to use it wisely and engage constructively, as you will determine the continuity of such discussions to be successful.”
Some members of Mr Ruto’s cabinet were also present at the X Space dialogue, which has yet to officially begin.
