BY  EVELYNE MUSAMBI

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday appointed the first 11 members of his Cabinet, retaining six former ministers in the key portfolios of defense and interior.

Last week, Ruto dismissed all but one minister and said he would form a broad-based government that would help him address issues that led to monthlong protests. The protests started as calls for legislators to vote against a finance bill that was proposing new taxes and later morphed to calls for the president’s resignation over bad governance.

The president on Friday retained the former ministers in interior and defense, but he has yet to appoint a finance minister, under whose area of responsibility the contentious budget falls. The country’s public debt has been increasing and Ruto defended the proposed taxes as a way to repay debt and increase internal revenue collection.

Demonstrators have been calling for a