You dialed the wrong number, Muturi responds, days after his sacking

Former Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has denied President William Ruto’s claims that he was sacked for absconding from duties. 

Instead, he linked his dismissal to his remarks on extrajudicial killings.  

Speaking on Wednesday, April 2, Muturi stated, “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.” 

On Monday this week, Ruto, in a one-on-one interview at Sagana State Lodge, blamed Muturi for his own dismissal.   

“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.  

But Muturi, in a rebuttal, defended his absence from Cabinet meetings, arguing that his requests to discuss extrajudicial killings had been ignored.  

“There have been three Cabinet meetings this year. The first was on January 21 at Kakamega State Lodge. When I received the invitation and agenda, I realized there was no mention of abductions and extrajudicial killings, yet the President himself had, on December 27, 2024, at a public rally in Homa Bay, committed to ending abductions,” he explained.  
“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 basis 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.”

The fired CS clarified that he wrote to the President through the Secretary to the Cabinet, requesting to be excused from the meeting for those reasons. According to him, the letter was delivered on January 20.  

Muturi reiterated that since his reasons for missing Cabinet meetings were clearly stated, his sacking was likely triggered by his stance on abductions and extrajudicial killings.  

Nonetheless, he vowed to continue advocating for Kenyans' rights.  

“If their intention is to silence me, they have dialed the wrong number,” he said.