NAIROBI, Kenya—Embattled Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Performance, and Delivery Management Justin Muturi appears to be under siege after President William Ruto’s allies mounted pressure on him to resign.
Kenya Kwanza Chief Whip Sylvanus Osoro fired the first salvo by publicly declaring his intention to spearhead the removal of the beleaguered CS from office, claiming that he has blackmailed the government over the continued abductions in the country.
Osoro criticised CS Muturi for publicly criticising the government rather than raising the matter with the head of state in Cabinet meetings while speaking at an education event at Nyamarambe Grounds in South Mugirango.
“I want to tell him (Muturi) that he currently has three choices: he could step down, apologise in public, or be impeached when Parliament reconvenes,” warned the Mugirango South MP.
CS Muturi has voiced his displeasure with President Ruto’s administration, accusing it of employing doublespeak.
Muturi, the former attorney general before assuming his current position, told journalists at a private hotel in Nairobi on Sunday, January 2, 2025, that the ruling Kenya Kwanza administration was not upholding the values that were agreed upon in the lead-up to the general election in 2022.
Why CS Justin Muturi joined the Kwanza Kwanza coalition
CS Muturi stated, “I joined the Kenya Kwanza coalition because their values aligned with those of the party I belong to, which is the Democratic Party.”
According to the CS, several of his friends and political colleagues at the time cautioned him against entering the coalition.
“But I was persuaded that we would be driven by the ideals that the coalition stated as a hustler nation to do the best for the people of Kenya, which has turned out to be contrary to my expectations,” the CS said.
CS Muturi disclosed that he had been quiet for some time, and many people had been asking him where the country was heading, so it was time to open up about the recent happenings.
While echoing Osoro’s remarks, Aldai Member of Parliament Marianne Kitany asked CS Muturi to resign; otherwise, she would table a censure motion against him in Parliament.
Kitany accused CS Muturi of being incompetent while speaking at a public gathering at Mogomben Primary School in Kobujoi Ward.
“If you cannot respect the same government you are serving, you have no reason to be there. As an MP in the National Assembly, my role is oversight. I am asking you to resign, but failure will cause me to table a censure motion against you in Parliament,” Kitany said.
Why CS Muturi fell out with Kenya Kwanza administration
Kitany, serving her first term in Parliament, insisted that the time had come for CS Muturi to pack and leave so that he could criticise the government as an ordinary Kenyan.
“Just resign and come speak out here like any other ordinary Kenyan as you hit out at the government. But there is no way you can criticise the government when you are still serving it; that is impossible,” Kitany further said.
CS Muturi claimed on Sunday that the current government has not fulfilled its campaign pledge to stop extrajudicial killings and abductions as promised ahead of the 2022 elections.
“We vowed that we would never, under our watch, condone or allow such, and one of the things we had accused the previous regimes of was the existence of disappearances and extrajudicial killings,” CS Muturi clarified.
As his son Leslie was kidnapped and vanished, CS Muturi spoke candidly about the pain he had endured.
Konoin MP Brighton Leonard Yegon also addressed the raging debate about CS Muturi’s intentions in the Kenya Kwanza Cabinet.
“He (Muturi) is a CS appointed by the president; how come he comes out publicly to question the same government he serves? Ironically, he is among the CSs that we should be summoned for questioning,” Yegon said.
What Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi told CS Justin Muturi
Speaking in his constituency, the Kenya Kwanza MP accused CS Muturi of selling his DP and seeking refuge in the president’s fold.
“If he feels tired of the government, let him pack and leave because so many competent Kenyans can take up his role. He should be defending the government, yet he is out here questioning the government,” added Yegon.
“Muturi has realised that to remain relevant in Mt. Kenya politics, he must create a storm so that he can be sacked. He should have had the guts to resign instead of giving a press conference many months after his son was abducted,” explained Manduku.
Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, a close ally of President Ruto, has accused CS Muturi of blackmailing the state.
“This desperate move, made now that your political career has waned, is a clear blackmail attempt. The timing is highly suspicious, revealing a coward man clutching at straws for political advantage,” Sudi posted on X.
He went on:
“Regarding your son’s woes, who is my agemate, kwani alishikwa bure (Was he arrested falsely)?” Furthermore, many Embus professionals can zealously serve the country; you can ship out.”
How CS Justin Muturi fell victim to the ongoing abductions
The besieged CS regretted that today, there have been several abductions and, in some cases, unexplained deaths since the Gen Z revolts in June 2024.
“It is unfortunate, as most of the people being abducted are our youth, leaving the parents and other family members in a state of confusion and loss,” CS Muturi lashed at President Ruto’s administration.
Muturi’s son, Leslie, was reportedly kidnapped from Nairobi’s Lavington area on a Saturday night and was later released, but the family has yet to receive any explanation for the ordeal.
“Now, more than six months after that ordeal and the release of my son by unknown forces, he has not been charged with any offence, and nobody has explained why he was abducted and held incommunicado,” added CS Muturi.
According to the former AG, he was fully aware of the Cabinet’s collective responsibility doctrine.
Hours after issuing the statement, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) asked the CS to record a statement about his son’s abduction.
The DCI reaffirmed its commitment to resolving abduction cases nationwide amid mounting pressure from the public and government officials.
