Cabinet at the Kakamega State Lodge on January 21, 2025/PCSPublic Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi was conspicuously missing during the first Cabinet meeting of 2025 held at State Lodge in Kakamega on Tuesday.
The meeting chaired by President William Ruto reached a series of resolutions, including the merger of 42 state corporations into 20 as a cost-cutting measure.
All of Ruto’s cabinet members except Muturi were absent at the meeting.
When asked by this writer whether there was a compelling reason for his absence, Muturi replied with a simple “Yes” without expounding.
On January 12, Muturi appeared to have broken ranks with the government when he held a press conference at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi and called for a national dialogue regarding alleged abduction of Kenyans and blamed the government for having a hand in it.
The former Attorney General said he had taken the divergent stand from the government position, which has consistently denied involvement, because he was a victim after his son was abducted on June 22, 2024.
His remarks sparked public debate and prompted the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to invite him to record a statement regarding his son to help facilitate ongoing investigations.
In his statement to the DCI, Muturi said it took the intervention of President Ruto to have his son released after hours of anxiety and fruitless attempts to have senior government officers facilitate the release of his son, who he said a friend at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) intimated to him was being held by them.
“The President joked, asking why anyone would want to arrest a young person over the Gen Z demonstrations,” he said.
Muturi said he requested the President to speak directly to NIS boss Noordin Haji, which he did.
Standing outside the pavilion, 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. Noordin responded that Leslie would be released within an hour,” he said.
A number of officials in government castigated Muturi over his remarks saying they were insensitive as they touched on national security agency.
