Intrigue as Muturi skips Cabinet meeting amid mounting tension

As the dust settles on the implications of the Cabinet meeting presided over in Kakamega by President William Ruto on Tuesday, questions still abound over why the controversial Public Service and Human Capital Development Cabinet Secretary, Justin Muturi, skipped the crucial session.

The Standard has gone behind the scenes to establish why Muturi, who has publicly criticised his boss and the government over the abduction of government critics, gave the meeting a wide berth despite critical issues affecting his ministry being featured.

Although highly placed sources indicated that the CS was not formally invited to the Cabinet meeting, the government, through Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau, maintained that he was invited just like other Cabinet Secretaries and neither intended nor gave reasons to abscond.

Sources and allies close to Muturi intimated to The Standard that he did not receive the brief from Wanjau as per the standard operating procedures.

The brief, according to the sources, is usually sent to each Cabinet Secretary detailing the agenda and expectations for their respective dockets, which are then presented to the Cabinet.

“By being in the Cabinet WhatsApp group, Muturi only received the general invitation message from Wanjau, but he did not receive a personalised brief on the Cabinet for his docket as has always happened in the past. This was not a mere coincidence, as it comes in the wake of Muturi’s revelations about his son’s abduction and putting the blame on the President and National Intelligence boss,” the source said.

Muturi is said to have avoided the meeting to avoid embarrassment and a possible clash, as he had not been briefed on what was expected of him.

However, Wanjau, in a telephone interview with The Standard yesterday, insisted that Muturi, like his colleagues, had received a general brief containing the agenda and memorandum of their briefs.

“I issued a general notice, which is the common practice for all Cabinet Secretaries. Through the general notice, the CSs have access to their expectations at the Cabinet forum. It is the same practice adhered to when officials of a group invite members to an Annual General Meeting (AGM). It is untrue to claim that I dispatched the invitation to some and left others,” Wanjau said.

The Cabinet meeting was the first this year and the first since Muturi’s claims that his son, Lesly Muturi, was abducted by National Intelligence Service operatives and that he was only released after a directive from the President.

It was during the Cabinet meeting that the decision to merge state agencies with overlapping functions was passed. The decision largely falls under Muturi’s docket, and his absence at the meeting left no clear directive on how the staff in the targeted dockets would be handled.

This is not the first meeting by the President that Muturi has skipped. Last week, he did not attend the official residence of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, who was meeting Embu leaders to calm the restless Mt Kenya region, which has shown open defiance to the Kenya Kwanza administration, even holding protests against it.

During the meeting, all the leaders from Embu and a delegation of 1,500 opinion and church leaders attended, but Muturi, who hails from Kanyuambora and is a co-principal in the Kenya Kwanza administration, was absent.

During the meeting, Kindiki urged the leaders and residents to stop destroying property during protests.

“We have started a very dangerous culture of making noise and violence, and it is not our culture. I have never seen that road blocked with stones and Embu children throwing stones to destroy shops of people who have built their investments and employ a few of our youths. Unless you want to continue that way, I plead with you to stop that behaviour.”

In Embu, mourners prevented Muturi from reading President Ruto’s condolence message to the family of former area Senator Lenny Kivuti following the demise of his son, Eric Mutugi.

Muturi also did not join his fellow Cabinet members to witness the swearing-in ceremony of Cabinet Secretaries William Kabogo (ICT), Mutahi Kagwe (Agriculture), and Lee Kinyanjui (Trade) at State House, Nairobi.

When he was being vetted for his Cabinet slot, Kabogo dismissed Muturi’s statements on abductions as reckless and ill-advised. According to Kabogo, Muturi ought to have raised the issue of his son’s abduction in appropriate forums instead of exposing his boss to ridicule.

Although Muturi has remained bullish over calls that he be sacked, The Standard has learnt that the President is not keen on firing him to avoid ‘creating another Gachagua’.

“The President did not anticipate that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua would be relevant after his impeachment and he could still have a say in his region. Firing another CS from the region could be detrimental to his hopes of regaining the region, “ a source within State House said.

The source also attributed the government’s decision to abandon the proposal to remove a section of Mt Kenya region MPs from committees who did not vote for Gachagua’s impeachment.

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa ruled out impeaching Muturi, saying MPs would not waste their time on impeachment motions.

“To those Cabinet Secretaries who are in office today, as we continue to oversee them, let me say we will oversee them. But let me also say we will not waste any more of our parliamentary time impeaching a Cabinet Secretary. Cabinet Secretaries are not people to waste our time on. The honourable thing for a Cabinet Secretary who feels they have failed at their job, or believe they are too important for the role they hold, is to resign. They should not waste our time or even the President’s time. However, the President has the prerogative to hire, fire, and reassign,” Ichungwa said.

Murang’a Woman Representative Betty Maina compared Muturi’s presence in the government to a parasite clinging to a cow, saying that even if he is not impeached or dismissed by the President, he would eventually “bolt out” in due course.

“Even when you do not remove the thorn in the flesh, the pus will accumulate, and the thorn will remove itself. But we shall not waste our time on him,” Ms Maina said.

However, Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku said they were waiting for Muturi’s direction, adding that his age and status gave him the privilege of speaking truth to power rather than succumbing to sycophancy.

“Muturi is my party leader. He is a high-ranking CS. He is not the kind of gentleman who can wake up and just say anything for the sake of saying it. He is not on the same level as several other Cabinet Secretaries; he is a high-ranking CS. At his age, there are certain issues he cannot engage in and certain matters he cannot compromise on, because these come with age and experience,” Ruku said.

The MP also stated that, as a principal of the Kenya Kwanza administration, Muturi’s differences should be addressed at the top level without interference from what he termed as “political toddlers”.

Naivasha MP Jane Kihara echoed these sentiments, saying: “I’ve seen this happen during Parliamentary Groups. If the President is not happy with you, you don’t get communication. Muturi did not receive a brief to attend the Cabinet meeting, so you can’t force your way in. You can’t force yourself into the meeting. There are procedures for receiving communication.”

This comes as reports indicate that Muturi might be working on a potential political alliance with Gachagua in a broader strategy to exclude Ruto from the Mt Kenya region. His dismissal, if it happens, could further the narrative that the President has declared an onslaught against the populous Mt Kenya region.

The alliance, according to well-placed sources, aims to bring together Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, former Interior CS Fred Matiangi, DAP-Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa, and Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya.

Gachagua has announced plans to unveil a political vehicle within the next ten days, which he hopes the Mt Kenya region will embrace as he positions himself as a kingmaker, seeking to oust Ruto from power. This move is significant as Gachagua, having faced impeachment, cannot run for an elective position.