President William Ruto has criticized Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi, stating that his tenure as Attorney General was marked by incompetence.
Speaking during an Iftar dinner at State House on Tuesday, March 25, Ruto expressed confidence in the current Attorney General, Dorcas Oduor, assuring Kenyans that key legal matters would be addressed promptly.
"I had a problem with the AG who was there, he was fairly incompetent. But I now have a very competent lady in that position, and I can assure you that the issues of Waqf will be sorted out in a matter of months," he said.
Ruto was addressing issues affecting the management of Waqf, an Islamic endowment system that has been the subject of governance debates.
Muturi served as Attorney General from October 2022 until July 2024.
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In July 2024, Ruto dissolved his cabinet, leading to Muturi's departure from the Attorney General position.
Muturi later clarified that he resigned voluntarily to allow the President to reorganize the government.
“It is true that I resigned and there were reasons because as you would expect, the National Executive level and the country were alive that was some disquiet and the honorable thing to do at that particular time was take a route that is provided for in law to allow the President an opportunity to reorganize his Cabinet as he desired," he said.
Following his resignation, Muturi was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Human Capital Development in August 2024.
Dorcas Oduor was appointed as Kenya's first female Attorney General, succeeding Muturi.
Prior to her appointment, Oduor had an extensive career in public prosecutions, serving as the Secretary of Public Prosecutions and as the Principal Deputy to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
She was sworn into office on August 20, 2024, and subsequently became a member of the Judicial Service Commission on August 23, 2024.
Upon assuming office, Oduor pledged to address backlogs at Sheria House and implement reforms to enhance the rule of law in Kenya.
At the same time, Muturi has in the recent past called out President Ruto's government over the spate of abductions and subsequent deaths in the country.
"I have personally suffered as my son was abducted and disappeared. It must be remembered that I was the Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya at the time, yet I was unable to trace my son despite making several requests and demands to all levels of the security apparatus," Muturi said.
He called on the Head of State to stop the abductions despite mounting pressure to resign for criticizing the government in which he serves.
"I'm calling upon the government. The buck must stop somewhere. To the President of Kenya, I'm calling upon you now to put an end to these abductions, as you promised," CS Muturi affirmed.
