Justin Muturi: Rebel with a cause or political maverick?

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi knew he had stirred a hornet's nest when he held a surprise press address a fortnight ago to castigate the government over abductions and enforced disappearances.

Since then, things haven't been the same for the former Attorney General. On Tuesday this week, he skipped a Cabinet meeting chaired by President William Ruto in Kakamega.

Although Muturi has not confirmed nor denied whether he was invited to the Cabinet meeting, however the government, through Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau, maintained that he was invited just like other Cabinet Secretaries and neither intended nor gave reasons to abscond.

The Eastleigh Voice understands that cabinet secretaries usually receive official briefs inviting them to meetings and that the brief is usually sent to each Cabinet Secretary detailing the agenda and expectations for their respective dockets, which are then presented to the Cabinet.

Wanjau insisted that Muturi, like his colleagues, had received a general brief containing the agenda and memorandum of their briefs.

"I issued a general notice, which is the common practice for all Cabinet Secretaries. Through the general notice, the CSs have access to their expectations at the Cabinet forum. It is the same practice adhered to when officials of a group invite members to an Annual General Meeting (AGM). It is untrue to claim that I dispatched the invitation to some and left others," Wanjau said.

The Cabinet meeting was the first this year and the first since Muturi's claims that his son, Lesly Muturi, was abducted by National Intelligence Service operatives and that he was only released after a directive from the President.

It was during the Cabinet meeting that the decision to merge state agencies with overlapping functions was passed. The decision largely falls under Muturi's docket, and his absence at the meeting left no clear directive on how the staff in the targeted dockets would be handled.

Embu leaders meeting

This is not the first meeting by the President that Muturi has skipped. Last week, he did not attend the official residence of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, who was meeting Embu leaders to calm the restless Mt Kenya region, which has shown open defiance to the Kenya Kwanza administration, even holding protests against it.

During the meeting, all the leaders from Embu and a delegation of 1,500 opinion and church leaders attended, but Muturi, who hails from Kanyuambora and is a co-principal in the Kenya Kwanza administration, was absent.

Muturi also did not join his fellow Cabinet members to witness the swearing-in ceremony of Cabinet Secretaries William Kabogo (ICT), Mutahi Kagwe (Agriculture), and Lee Kinyanjui (Trade) at State House, Nairobi.

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa ruled out impeaching Muturi, saying MPs would not waste their time on impeachment motions.

"To those Cabinet Secretaries who are in office today, as we continue to oversee them, let me say we will oversee them. The honourable thing for a Cabinet Secretary who feels they have failed at their job, or believe they are too important for the role they hold, is to resign," Ichungwa said.

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However, Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku said they were waiting for Muturi's direction, adding that his age and status gave him the privilege of speaking truth to power rather than succumbing to sycophancy.

Naivasha MP Jane Kihara echoed these sentiments, saying: "I've seen this happen during Parliamentary Groups. If the President is not happy with you, you don't get communication. Muturi did not receive a brief to attend the Cabinet meeting, so you can't force your way in. You can't force yourself into the meeting. There are procedures for receiving communication."

Political observers who spoke to The Eastleigh Voice aver that Muturi might be working on a potential political alliance with politicians disgruntled with Ruto's administration. This comes even as former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua announced plans to unveil a political vehicle within the next few days, which he hopes the Mt Kenya region will embrace.

Political analyst Samuel Owida says that Muturi is not new in politics as he knows the repercussions of holding a different view from that of his boss or colleagues.

On Muturi's exclusion from meetings and functions, Owida notes that "There must be a communication from the one charged with the responsibility. Secondly, the communication doesn't only highlight the venue, time and agenda but also advises on what level of preparations are required by each cabinet secretary."

In his explanation, one can't just walk into highly placed government meetings without getting invitations detailing the place, time and purpose of the gathering.