Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei has questioned the intent behind a statement made by Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi regarding the abduction of his son, Leslie Muturi.
In a sharp critique on Monday, January 13, 2025, Sigei suggested that Muturi’s remarks, which highlighted his son’s ordeal, carried political undertones rather than being solely an expression of parental concern.
“If you read through the statement, you appreciate where it’s coming from. But at the same time, you read undertones – not just of a concerned parent but of a political statement,” Sigei said during a televised interview.
The Bomet senator noted that it’s time for Muturi to ensure his son records a statement to aid investigations even as he slammed the CS for politicizing the issue of forced disappearances – a highly sensitive topic in Kenya.
“So, the answers that would be given to such statements would be in context of the issue at hand. On the one hand the former AG says ‘look I am a victim having had my son allegedly abducted sometimes back, six months ago’. At the same time also he has been invited to come, your son hasn’t recorded a statement. It’s your time to equally do because justice by the way cuts both ways,” Sigei stated.
Muturi’s statement on son’s abduction
Speaking to the press on Sunday, January 12, 2024, Muturi addressed the issue of abductions and forced disappearances, describing his son’s ordeal as deeply traumatic for his family.
“My son was abducted and disappeared. I was not sure whether he was alive or dead making us anxious and leaving me and my wife and the rest of the family in turmoil. At that time I was the attorney general of Kenya and a member of the National Security Council. Despite making several requests, I was unable to trace my son,” Muturi stated.
“Now, more than six months after the ordeal and his release by unknown forces, he has not been charged with any offense. The government, at all levels, has not been able to give me reasons for his abduction,” Muturi lamented.
Muturi criticized the security sector for failing to prevent abductions, even as officials claimed no involvement.
“The security sector has said that they are not involved in the abductions but interestingly, they have failed to stop them as they are happening in full public glare. The president has equally said he would like to see the abductions end. Kenyans would like to know; how many of our youths have been taken in since the abductions started. How many have been released, how many are still being held and where they are being held,” he added.
The abduction incident
The abduction of Leslie Muturi occurred on June 22, 2024, at the height of the Gen Z demonstrations across the country.
Embakasi West Member of Parliament Mark Mwenje publicly announced Leslie’s abduction moments after it occurred.
In a viral clip he shared on social media, Mwenje stated that he was with Leslie Muturi when police abducted him.
The Embakasi West MP disclosed that Leslie, whom he described as his friend, was taken out of his car by police officers by the roadside.
Mwenje claimed that they were driving in different cars alongside their other friends in Nairobi’s Kilimani area when police stopped Leslie’s car and took him away in a Land Cruiser.
“We were in Kilimani, my friend Leslie Muturi, son to AG Justin Muturi was just arrested by the police here on the road. I was the one following him, this is his car,” the MP said in the video.
Muturi’s son Leslie was released the following day June 23, 2024, hours after his arrest.
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