First daughter Charlene Ruto has urged the youth to join X Space virtual meeting with President William Ruto to voice their concerns in the wake of recent protests that rocked several regions of the country.
In a statement on X on July 4, 2024, Charlene challenged the young people to embrace the gesture by Ruto to meet them in a bid to solve the stalemate of protests.
“Young people, the chance of a lifetime awaits you. I encourage you to use it wisely and engage constructively because you are the ones who will determine the continuity of such levels of discussion for your success,” Charlene said.
Her statements come just one day after she held a presser in the company of University youth leaders and called on the Gen Zs to not only criticize the government but also suggest solutions for the problems.
Ruto has set the X Space meeting to begin at 2 pm on Friday, July 5, 2024, and has advised all Cabinet Secretaries to join and listen to the demands of the youth.
In a move that seems to further the digital agenda since the president held the first paperless cabinet meeting in January 2023, Ruto told the Cabinet Secretaries and their Principal Secretaries to be present during the live interaction.
The meeting is set to discuss government largesse and address corruption and inefficiencies in the various ministries of the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Some of the Cabinet Secretaries set to attend the meeting are having their jobs on the line after speculations emerged that the president hinted that heads would roll.
In a Senate session on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, a section of senators decried the opulence and ineptitude of some Cabinet secretaries, saying they were a mockery of Ruto’s calls for austerity.
Dissent on Space meeting
A section of the youth and leaders have expressed dissent on the planned X Space meeting by Ruto.
Kiambu Senator Karungo Thang’wa on Thursday, June 4, 2024, expressed his misgivings on the meeting, stating that Ruto could meet with faceless individuals different from Gen Zs.
“When the President is talking to Gen Z, he must make sure he is talking to Gen Z. That is why I advise him to shy away from the X Space,” Thang’wa observed.
Popular X satirist Gabriel Oguda said the X space should be arranged by the Gen Zs themselves and the president hosted as a guest.
He ran an X poll with over 50,000 respondents where only 10.9 per cent said they were willing to join the meeting with President Ruto, with 89.1 per cent saying otherwise.
Comedian Eric Omondi said they would not join the Space meeting, adding that the President should resign together with all the members of Parliament who voted for the controversial Finance Bill 2024.