In his televised interview on
Wednesday night, Public Service
Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi
made it clear that all is not well
between him and senior Kenya
Kwanza leaders, including President
William Ruto.
Muturi, who has been courting
controversy as the black sheep of
the Kenya Kwanza team, revealed
that he no longer attends Cabinet,
until it would speak boldly against
abductions.
“I have missed three Cabinet
meetings…I have written to the
President to be excused from the
Cabinet until the issue of abductions
and extrajudicial killings is formally
tabled before the Cabinet through a
Cabinet memorandum,” he said.
The CS told Citizen TV that he
was not afraid of being dismissed
from his position following his open criticism of President Ruto
administration which he is part of.
While it is not ordinary for
insiders to attack government,
the CS has dismissed calls for
his resignation, arguing that
surrendering to the forces that are
up against him would amount to an
act of cowardice.
“When I took oath of office, I
knew the appointing authority has
power to hire and fire. If I am fired
for speaking against abductions
and extrajudicial killings, which
are unconstitutional, then so be it,”
Muturi said.
“I remain fully committed to
serving the people of Kenya in
my capacity as Cabinet Secretary,
working to strengthen our public
service and enhance human capital
development,” he said after a fake
letter circulated indicating he had
opted out.
In his assertions, Muturi said
he doesn’t see his Cabinet snub as insubordination, revealing that
he has written to the President to
formally excuse himself.
The CS also hinted to his
acts stemming from numerous advisories he gave the government
but were ignored, including against
the controversial Sh104 billion
social health authority system.
He also revealed how he ‘helped the President correct an error’ in
sacking him as Attorney General,
taking on the head of state to keep
his campaign promises.
“I saved him (the President) the
pressure and handed a resignation
letter as a matter of procedure,”
Muturi said, further taking on Ruto
for reneging on his promises to
Kenyans.
He further spilled the beans
that the office of AG rarely gets
to process government-sponsored
bills prior to their publication and
enactment.
“We were surprised that we
were being brought bills that had
already been drafted and contained
too many issues that needed to be
cleaned up,” he said.
Hours before the interview,
Muturi’s former party —
Democratic Party — released a
statement on its intentions to quit
Kenya Kwanza. Whereas the CS
asserts he had resigned as DP party
leader, political pundits say there
was no coincidence.
“He is not in good terms with the
President. Let’s just say the two are
not in good terms. Obviously there
are issues between them,” political
analyst Herman Manyora told the
Star on Thursday.
Last week, Kikuyu MP Kimani
Ichung’wah told Al Jazeera that the
CS “has a beef with his boss in the
government he serves,” arguing that
the former speaker was “playing
politics”.
