Embattled CS Muturi launches fresh attack on govt amid push to eject him from office

Embattled CS Muturi launches fresh attack on govt amid push to eject him from office

Embattled Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has once again launched a scathing critique of President William Ruto’s administration, intensifying speculation about his future in government amid mounting calls for his resignation.

Appearing before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Labour on Thursday, February 20, 2025, to present and deliberate on the 2025 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) for his ministry, Muturi criticized the government for initiating numerous new projects while many existing ones remain stalled.

“I don’t know whether there is something wrong with our psych as a country… the chairman I am saying this because I have travelled around this country, some stalled projects which have been there for more than 30 years. I went to a place called Wote in Makueni, you find houses whose construction started more than 30 years ago they are still stalled,” Muturi said.

The embattled Public Service CS further urged the government to focus on completing one project before initiating new ones.

“If we don’t have enough to do all of them can we finish one. Can we get enough allocation to finish one so that the year that follows we can do the other,” he said.

Muturi’s latest criticism of the government comes amid mounting speculation over his future in government, underscored by recent comments from Belgut Member of Parliament Nelson Koech, a close ally of President William Ruto.

Koech, speaking during a television interview earlier this week, reiterated his claim that Muturi would be ousted within two weeks, fueling political intrigue.

“I said that in the space of two weeks also, it’s still, and I still insist, it is still something in the works,” Koech said during a TV interview on Monday morning February 17, 2025.

The remarks mirrored similar comments he made earlier this month, accusing Muturi of daring the president to fire him.

Speaking during a morning interview on February 3, 2025, Koech, who chairs the departmental committee on defence, intelligence and foreign relations, said that Muturi was on his way out.

“CS Muturi is daring the president to fire him. He should have resigned if he doesn’t want to work with this government. He has called for it and you will see it in a week or two, CS Muturi will be home,” Koech stated.

“He has pinched the president’s nose and he is a man going home,” he added.

The remarks came after CS Muturi, while speaking to journalists at the Nairobi Funeral Home on January 31, 2025, voiced concerns at the alarming rate of the disappearance of young people in the country only to turn up dead.

Earlier, while speaking to the press on January 12, 2024, Muturi addressed the issue of abductions and forced disappearances, reading that his own son was a victim of abduction.

He went on to describe 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 offence. 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 of Muturi’s son Leslie occurred on June 22, 2024, at the height of the Gen Z demonstrations across the country.

The CS’s son was released the following day June 23, 2024, hours after his arrest.

Resignation calls

In response to Muturi’s abduction remarks, several government officials rebuked him asserting that his statements were politically motivated and detrimental to national security efforts.

A growing chorus of lawmakers has been urging the Public Service CS to step down, following his outspoken criticism of the government’s handling of the wave of mysterious abductions that has shaken the nation, with many viewing his comments as a breach of protocol and an affront to the administration he serves.

Calls for his resignation emerged from various quarters, with critics asserting that he undermined the very institution he served.

Concerns about Muturi’s job raised a notch higher after he skipped the Cabinet meeting on January 21, 2025, chaired by President William Ruto at the Kakamega State Lodge.

The meeting, which included all other ministers, deliberated on significant matters, such as a major restructuring initiative involving the merger of 42 state corporations into 20 as part of a cost-reduction strategy.

Muturi, a seasoned politician and former National Assembly Speaker, has so far refused to bow to pressure. The coming weeks could determine whether his defiance is a calculated stand or the prelude to an inevitable political exit.