For the first time, President William Ruto has openly displayed his differences with his Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Justin Muturi.
It all began on Tuesday when
Ruto described Muturi as someone who was ‘fairly incompetent’ when he served as
Attorney General.
The comment was in relation to
how he handled legal matters concerning the establishment of Waqf, an endowment made by a Muslim to a religious, educational, or charitable cause.
Speaking at an Iftar dinner at State House, Nairobi, he assured
the Muslim community that the issues surrounding Waqf would soon be resolved
under the current Attorney General, Dorcas Oduor.
“I had a problem with the AG who was there before, he was fairly
incompetent. But now, I have a very competent lady in the position, and I can
assure you that the issues of Waqf will be sorted out within months,” the
President said on Tuesday.
Ruto’s remarks were in response to concerns raised by Muslim
leaders who had attended the state Iftar dinner over delays in
operationalising the endowment fund despite an existing Act (Waqf Act, 2022).
Muturi, in a swift rejoinder to the remarks, however, said that while
the act exists, it does not provide for the creation of a Muslim Endowment Fund.
He insisted that it is a personal initiative by any individual
who professes Islam.
“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 the Muslim faith and
is managed by the Waqf Commission,” the former AG said.
This was the first time
President Ruto was criticizing his CS publicly despite the latter sustaining
attacks on the current administration.
Muturi has severally accused
the administration of being complicit in abductions and extrajudicial killings.
This started months after his
son Lesly was abducted and later on released after Muturi reached out to
President William Ruto.
The two no longer see eye to eye with Muturi, recently revealing
that he had written to the President to be excused from attending Cabinet
meetings.
Muturi said he had requested that until the issue of extrajudicial killings and abductions are addressed in
parliament or at the level of the Cabinet, he should be excused from cabinet meetings.
So far, Muturi has not attended at least the last three Cabinet
meetings.
