Kenya's president names John Mbadi as finance minister

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's President William Ruto on Wednesday named John Mbadi as finance minister in a cabinet that includes opposition coalition members in a planned broad-based government.

The new appointments by Ruto is meant to respond to the grievances of young protesters that have rocked the east African nation in recent weeks.

The mass sacking of previous ministers earlier this month was a concession to demands from the youth-led protests that had already forced him to withdraw $2.7 billion in proposed tax hikes amid the biggest crisis of his two-year presidency.

Ruto said on Wednesday that he would also be proposing amendments to the country's anti-corruption and public procurement laws.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa and Hereward Holland, Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Bate Felix)