Muturi: I was sacked for exposing abductions, not absconding duty

Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has fired back at President William Ruto over claims that he "sacked himself" by absconding duty.

Taking on his former boss head-on,  Muturi insisted that his dismissal had everything to do with his stance on abductions and extrajudicial killings—not "boycotting duty," as President Ruto alleged.

“Since my reasons for not attending Cabinet are clearly stated, the inference one draws from my sacking is that raising the issue of abductions and extrajudicial killings must have terribly annoyed the President," he said in a statement on Wednesday, exactly a week after he was shown the door.

His response comes barely two days after the Head of State, in a press interview on Monday at Sagana State Lodge, claimed that Muturi’s decision to boycott work cost him his job.

"I gave him a ministerial position, then, in the process, he went on strike, skipping Cabinet meetings. So, am I the one who fired him, or did he fire himself? If you are a CS and you don't attend meetings, what am I supposed to do?” Ruto said.

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The President further justified his decision to dismiss the former Attorney General, arguing that Muturi would not struggle in retirement since he "has a very good pension."

This also came days after Ruto accused Muturi of incompetence in his role as CS, expressing regret for transferring him from Attorney General to the Public Service docket.

“I blame myself because I convinced him to take the job, but after some time, I realised he was overwhelmed, so I decided to change his docket,” Ruto said.

Muturi: I raised concerns, but they were ignored

Muturi defended his absence from Cabinet meetings, maintaining that his requests to discuss abductions and extrajudicial killings were ignored.

He stated that he had written to the President on three separate occasions—one instance through the Secretary to the Cabinet and others directly to Ruto—but received no response.

“To date, the President has never responded to any of my letters, clearly indicating that the matter of abductions and extrajudicial killings is not worthy of his attention or that of the Cabinet,” he said.

He added: “I, therefore, felt in good conscience that it would not be fitting for me to attend a Cabinet meeting that did not address such a monumental issue, which goes to the core of our constitutional foundation and the rule of law. Additionally, for the Cabinet to meet and ignore this issue would either be too insensitive or be seen as complicit in these heinous activities.”

Muturi dismissed Ruto’s claim that the issue had been discussed in Cabinet and resolved, insisting, "There is no doubt that I was sacked because of my stand on abductions and extrajudicial killings, not because of the so-called absconding of Cabinet meetings."

History of clashes between Muturi and Ruto

This is not the first time Muturi has openly criticised his former boss. The fallout began when he accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of sanctioning abductions, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.

In an official statement to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on 15 January, Muturi accused the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of abducting and detaining his son incommunicado, only releasing him after Muturi personally reached out to the President.

A few weeks later, Muturi confronted Ruto again when he visited Nairobi City Mortuary to condole with families of victims of extrajudicial killings and abductions.

“The buck must stop somewhere. In this case, it stops with the President, the Head of Government, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces. Therefore, Mr President, I am calling upon you now to order an end to these abductions and extrajudicial killings as you promised,” Muturi said at the morgue on 31 January.

On Wednesday, he questioned whether Ruto had actually disbanded the so-called "killer squad" as he had previously assured the public, citing the continued rise in abductions and extrajudicial killings.

“The question we are asking is: if the President knew of the existence of such a squad that committed such heinous crimes, shouldn’t the members of that squad face the full weight of the law for their crimes?” Muturi asked.

"It is not rocket science to know that my son and many other young Kenyans were in the custody of the Director General of NIS with the knowledge of the President."

In what seemed to be a defiant declaration, Muturi vowed to continue speaking out against the government’s excesses, dismissing any attempts to silence him.

“If their intention is to silence me, they have dialled the wrong number, for I will never tire of fighting for the rights of the people of Kenya,” he said.