Kenyan president appoints opposition ministers to his Cabinet amid political unrest

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s president on Wednesday incorporated the opposition in his new Cabinet, appointing four ministers from the main opposition party in a bid to form a broad-based government that would address governance issues raised in deadly protests. President William Ruto on Wednesday appointed the minority leader in parliament and opposition leader Raila Odinga’s party chairman in his new Cabinet despite a split in the opposition coalition that saw other parties distance themselves from government talks. The president on Wednesday lauded political parties for “their willingness to set aside partisan positions and interests in order to join a visionary partnership for the radical transformation of Kenya is a historic gesture of their patriotism.” Odinga, who earlier called for talks to calm the unrest, on Tuesday denied allegations that he had been bribed to join Ruto in forming a broad-based government. But it has been in support of demonstrators, stating that the bad governance issues being raised were in line with the opposition’s proposals to the government during previous opposition-led protests.