Justin Muturi has been spitting venom every time President William Ruto steps on his tail.
Few have dreamt of, let alone dared, taking on a Kenyan president publicly – until the Gen Z protests of June 2024.
Justin Bedan Njoka Muturi seems to have taken that challenge to Olympic levels.
He didn’t just challenge the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces; he took him to the political ring, shoved him to a corner, and landed punch after punch right on the president’s nose.
But really, what do you expect from a man whose middle name – Njoka– means “snake”? Ever heard of the old adage: “If you rattle a snake, be prepared to be bitten?” One John Njoroge Michuki once popularised it.
Well, Muturi has been spitting venom every time President William Ruto steps on his tail.
Even after seeing Uhuru Kenyatta hand the symbolic sword to Ruto at Kasarani stadium in 2022, Muturi – he would later say in public – drove himself to State House late last year, not for a Cabinet meeting, but to launch what can only be described as a one-man protest.
On that day, Muturi wasn’t just making inquiries about his missing son. He demanded that the President calls intelligence boss Noordin Haji – “weka loudspeaker tusikie “put it on loudspeaker so we can all listen in” – pun intended.
And if you thought that was audacity on steroids, brace yourself for more. The man from Kanyuambora spilled the contents of that confidential call like an angry cook kicking over a sufuria – hot and messy. No prisoners were taken.
The name Muturi means a “blacksmith” where the former Attorney-General, National Assembly Speaker and Cabinet Secretary hails from.
Muturi was hammering away at Ruto’s iron armour. Unfortunately, this iron had not been heated to forge. It was cracking under fire.
For months, Muturi has been a thorn in President Ruto’s side, throwing shade over the government handling of the Anti-Finance Bill, 2024 protests.
The President, meanwhile, has been chini ya maji – silent and cool– pretending not to notice the heat.
Muturi refused to quit, and his punches kept coming,- below the belt and unapologetic. At one point, he declared that he would only attend Cabinet meetings if abductions and extra-judicial killings (blamed on government security agents) were in the agenda.
Some people have good bosses, others… well, have Dr Ruto.
If kukaa ngumu (being defiant) had a twin, Muturi would be its conjoined sibling. His stance? “Can’t resign, won’t resign”.
But when you keep poking the bee’s behind, you get stung. And sting the President did. Hard.
At a State House Iftar dinner, President Ruto finally took the gloves off, describing Muturi as a “fairly incompetent” AG, citing his “mishandling” of the Waqf Bill meant to establish a Muslim Endowment Fund.
“I had a problem with the AG who was there at the time. He was fairly incompetent,” President Ruto said, while praising Muturi’s successor Dorcas Oduor.
Stung by the remarks, Muturi fired back. In a dramatic X rebuttal, he told President Ruto to look in the mirror to find out who the incompetent individual was.
Muturi added, perhaps with a smirk, that the Waqf Act No. 8 of 2022 does not even provide for an endowment fund, and that Waqf matters fall under the Waqf Commission.
To rub salt in the sting, Muturi posted his own exit report card, listing achievements in litigation, legal reforms and advisory work. Sema kuweka receipts kwa kalatasi!
But alas, the former legal adviser to the government may have tweeted his way out of office.
President Kipchirchir – meaning one in a constant state of a hurry – was not about to let this political pregnancy drag on any more.
He fired the blacksmith and replaced him with his area MP Geoffrey Ruku (firewood), bringing to an end the long labour of indecision.
As they say, nothing cools faster than a blacksmith replaced with kindling.
And with that, the political “Thriller in Manila” became “The Closure on Harambee Avenue”.
Muturi’s last major public duty? Closing a workshop in Mombasa on March 20.
Six days later, the doors to his office were shut – for good.
comulo@ke.nationmedia.com
