President William Ruto has finally removed Justin Muturi from his position as Public Service Cabinet Secretary, just hours after they clashed over his performance as Attorney General.
Muturi has been replaced by Geoffrey Kiringa Ruku, the Member of Parliament for Mbeere North, in a minor cabinet reshuffle. This reshuffle also saw the appointment of a new Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, and the Arts, a position that has remained vacant since Ruto dismissed almost his entire Cabinet following the Gen Z protests last year.
The late Baringo Senator William Cheptumo’s daughter, Hannah Wendot, has been appointed to take up the role. Last August, Ruto had nominated Stella Langat for the position, but MPs rejected her due to concerns over her lack of knowledge of the portfolio.
In the reshuffle, Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has swapped positions with Dr Deborah Barasa, the Cabinet Secretary for Health. Barasa had come under scrutiny due to the challenges facing the health sector, particularly the implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund.
There had been speculation that Barasa might be dismissed, but interventions by leaders from Western Kenya, who met with the President at State House, Nairobi earlier, seem to have secured her position. During his recent tour of Western Kenya, Ruto had praised both Barasa and her predecessor, Sudan Nakhumicha, who was recently nominated as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to UN-Habitat.
However, it is Muturi’s removal that had long been anticipated. On Tuesday, Ruto publicly criticised him for his failures as Attorney General, specifically for not establishing the Waqf Commission during his tenure at the Attorney General’s office.
“On Waqf, I agree with you; it has taken too long. There is no reason for the delay, and I had a problem with the AG who was there. He was fairly incompetent, but now I have a very competent lady (Dorcas Oduor), and I can assure you the issues of Waqf will be sorted out,” Ruto told members of the Muslim community during an Iftar dinner at State House, Nairobi.
In response, the now-dismissed CS took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify the situation, seemingly in response to the President’s remarks.
“Under the Waqf Act No. 8 of 2022, there is no provision for a ‘Muslim Endowment Fund’. It must be understood that a waqf is a religious, charitable or benevolent endowment by a person who professes the Muslim faith and is managed by the Waqf Commission,” Muturi wrote.
The former National Assembly Speaker has been a controversial figure since he accused the National Intelligence Service of being behind the abduction of youths critical of the government, including his own son. He had also been skipping Cabinet meetings, stating that he had requested to be excused until the issue was addressed at the top decision-making level.
Notably, there were no allies of ODM leader Raila Odinga included in the Cabinet reshuffle, despite widespread speculation that they might be appointed.
