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Resign! Junet tells Muturi after abduction bombshell

"You cannot be a Cabinet Secretary who is issuing contrary views to what the government is saying."

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by EMMANUEL WANJALA

Realtime16 January 2025 - 21:16
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In Summary


  • Muturi on Sunday called for a national conversation on the wave of abductions witnessed in the country.
  • On Tuesday, he recorded a statement with the DCI and blamed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of being behind his son's abduction.

National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed speaks on the floor of the House on January 16, 2025/SCREENGRAB

National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed has told Public Service CS Justin Muturi to resign if he feels his ideologies are no longer in sync with the government's.

Muturi on Sunday called for a national conversation on the wave of abductions witnessed in the country in recent times and blamed the government for having a hand in the vice.

He said he chose to speak boldly about the alleged abductions because his own son was abducted on June 2022, at the height of Gen Z protests by unknown people.

On Tuesday, the former Attorney General honoured an invitation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and recorded a statement where he blamed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of being behind his son's abduction.

Muturi's claims drew admiration and condemnation in equal measure with a section of government insiders calling for his resignation.

While making his remarks during the approval hearings of President William Ruto's newest Cabinet nominees on Thursday, Junet said the best thing Muturi should do is quit instead of speaking at cross purpose with the same government he serves.

"Don't bring commotion; don't bring unnecessary fires in government. Be man enough and say, 'this is enough now; I don't think what is happening now is what I came to do; for that reason I want to leave," the Suna East MP said.

Muturi was one of the 10 new faces Ruto incorporated in government after he sent home his entire Cabinet on July 11, 2024, save for Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi, following sustained pressure from youthful anti-government protesters.

Many have viewed his stance on abductions, which the government has denied involvement, as one pointing to him breaking ranks with the President.

In his statement to the DCI, Muturi claimed despite him using his connections as a serving AG, those he thought would help have his son released failed to do so.

He said after hours of uncertainty over the fate of his son Leslie, and with denial from those in charge of security that the young man was in their custody, he decided to seek the president's intervention.

According to Muturi, Ruto placed a call to the NIS boss from the State House pavilion, where it was confirmed to him that his son was indeed being held by the country's top intelligence agency.

"I heard the President ask Noordin Haji if he was holding my son; Noordin confirmed that indeed he was holding my son, and the President instructed him to release Leslie immediately," Mututi said.

"After thanking the President, I drove out of State House and rejoined my friends in Gigiri and explained what had happened. Slightly over an hour later, Leslie called me to say he had been released and was at home. I then went home to see him," he added.

Junet said Muturi's reaction to his son's alleged abduction is not one expected of a civil servant, something he described as a calling.

"You cannot be a Cabinet Secretary who is issuing contrary views to what the government is saying," he said.

"And why do you wait until seven months so that you tell Kenyans your son was arrested? Why don't you tell them the day he was released that my son was arrested?" he posed.

The government has denied having anything to do with the wave of abductions that peaked at the height of the Gen Z anti-government protests in June last year.

Many people alleged that the abductors could be state agencies targeting government critics, particularly those suspected to be behind silhouettes deemed disrespectful to leaders, including the President.

Muturi said that after narrating his ordeal to Ruto, "the President joked, asking why anyone would want to arrest a young person over the Gen Z demonstrations.".

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said at least 82 Kenyans have gone missing since June last year, 29 of whom remained unaccounted for by December 2024.

The spate of alleged abductions, some of which were caught on CCTV, sparked public uproar.

On January 6, five young Kenyan men who went missing just before the Christmas holidays were found alive.

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