Muturi's AG tenure: Legal blunders, ignored advice and bitter exit

The abduction of his son during last year’s youth-led revolt sent all of Justin Muturi’s pent-up frustrations gushing out.

Muturi, the immediate former Public Service Cabinet Secretary who is faulted for handing President Uhuru Kenyatta control of the National Assembly when he served as Speaker, is finding out that he can speak up. Much of it has been about his experience as Attorney General (AG), where he has repeatedly claimed his opinion mattered little.

To some, he might seem unafraid of facing his current boss, President William Ruto, almost goading the Head of State into sacking him. To others, he could pass off as eager to prop himself in the Mount Kenya region by attacking Ruto, currently unpopular in the area.

After months of soaking in Muturi’s jabs over wanton abductions and corruption in his administration, Ruto fired back.

“I had a problem with the AG (Attorney-General) who was there (Muturi). He was very incompetent. I now have a very competent lady – the issue of Waqf will be sorted out after six months,” the President said at the State House Tuesday evening when he hosted a host of Muslim faithful for an Iftar dinner. He was referring to setting up a foundation for the Muslim community, Waqf.

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Muturi responded in kind on X yesterday morning, saying: “Under the Waqf Act no.8 of 2022 there’s 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 Muslim faith and is managed by the Waqf Commission.”

Muturi was sacked as Attorney-General last July when Ruto dismissed his entire Cabinet except Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, following weeks of deadly youth-led protests over proposals to hike taxes.

Ruto said he had used Section 12 of the Attorney General’s Act to dismiss Muturi, a decision guided by “a holistic appraisal” of his cabinet and “its achievements and challenges.”

The said section reads: “The President may remove the Attorney-General or the Solicitor-General from office only for serious violation of the Constitution or any other law; gross misconduct, whether in the performance of their functions or otherwise; physical or mental incapacity to perform the functions of office; incompetence; or bankruptcy.”

As Muturi fought off claims that he was incompetent, an exit scorecard of his stint at the State Law Office circulated online, ostensibly released by his team.

It highlights Muturi’s achievements, which include reportedly saving the government some Sh17.5 billion by concluding some 1,588 civil suits. The scorecard states Muturi’s office won 1,503 cases.

Other achievements include issuing more than 700 advisories on bilateral, regional and international law matters and 225 others on international judicial cooperation in criminal matters “within six working days.” “The Office represented the Government in five (5) ongoing International Arbitration matters seeking to defend the Government against liabilities in excess of Sh632 billion,” the scorecard states in part, also highlighting more than 500 advisories issued to ministries and departments.

Muturi’s tenure as Attorney-General has always been under scrutiny, especially amid glaring legal blunders by Ruto’s administration, which has suffered setbacks in court over controversial programmes.

Some of this includes an initial attempt to impose the Housing Levy, which the High Court declared illegal in November 2023 before a law change enforced it. High Court stopped the deployment of police officers to gang-ravaged Haiti.

Justice Chacha Mwita found that the National Security Council lacked the mandate to deploy police officers outside the country unless in defence of the country during an emergency. Other cases he has lost include the attempt to hire Chief Administration Secretaries. More recently, the President’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance lost its claim as the majority party at the National Assembly.

In previous interviews, Muturi has said he was mostly slighted as Attorney-General and subordinates handed his duties.

“Once the AG has given the advisory, it is up to the advisee to implement the advisory. If they choose not to, then other organs of State oversight, like the auditor general and others, will come to deal with the issue… As Attorney-General, you cannot give advice and then start following up – to go and find out, why haven’t you followed this?” Muturi posed during a recent interview on Citizen TV.

Former Law Society of Kenya president Nelson Havi does not buy Muturi’s lamentations, saying he agrees with Ruto that “Muturi is the most incompetent AG we have had in history.” “His performance was deplorable for several reasons, and the blame falls squarely on Ruto. Muturi has never practised as an advocate; in fact, he was never admitted as an advocate of the High Court… How did we end up with someone like that as AG?” Havi posed.

The lawyer said Muturi ought to have advised the government “openly, confidently and firmly” and argued that some incidents such as last June’s storming of Parliament by youthful protesters could have been avoided by sound counsel.

While Muturi headed the State Law Office, there had been reports of alleged wrangles between him and Solicitor General Shadrack Mose.

His predecessor, Kihara Kariuki, also attracted concerns of competence during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure. Uhuru’s Jubilee administration suffered losses in courts owing to unconstitutional policies. When Muigai resigned in 2018, there were reports that his decision was informed by supremacy wars between himself and then-Solicitor General Njee Muturi.

Ben Sihanya, a professor of law, argued Muturi struggled with balancing “politics and technical legal operations.” ”Some people said there were issues around the efficiency and coordination of the office when he was in charge... and some of these things followed him from when he was a partisan speaker. Politics is not always a bad thing but the challenge is always to balance it with legal issues,” said Prof Sihanya.