{"id":145665,"date":"2025-07-17T19:03:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T19:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general"},"modified":"2025-07-17T19:31:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T19:31:49","slug":"muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general","title":{"rendered":"Muturi: How I reluctantly ended up being Attorney General"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong><\/span>Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has spoken about how he became Attorney General, describing a process of persuasion by President William Ruto and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang\u2019ula.<\/p>\n

Muturi, also a former National Assembly Speaker, said he had not sought the role of Attorney General when Ruto offered it to him after forming the government in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started noticing things were not as I had expected, particularly regarding my role,\u201d Muturi said during an interview with K24.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he gave me the job of Attorney General, I initially declined. I told him that is not the job I wanted when we agreed to form the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muturi explained that he turned down the offer at first without giving detailed reasons.<\/p>\n

Days later, Wetang\u2019ula, whom Muturi described as a longtime acquaintance from their university days, approached him to encourage him to reconsider.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Moses, you know I am a stickler for the law. I was hesitant about taking up the role of principal legal adviser because I wasn\u2019t sure I\u2019d be allowed to carry out the job independently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Muturi claimed that Ruto remained insistent about his appointment.<\/p>\n

At a State House meeting held days before the Cabinet was unveiled, Muturi recounted how the President personally urged him again to accept the post.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me, \u2018JB, I still want you to be my AG.\u2019 But I told him I would prefer to serve in a ministry. I value legal independence and would rather stand by my professional principles than offer advice simply to please the administration,\u201d Muturi recalled during an interview.<\/p>\n

He said Ruto argued that Muturi\u2019s legal rigour was precisely why he wanted him in the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I raised concerns about being involved in procurement matters, he said, \u2018That is exactly why I want you,\u2019\u201d Muturi said.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Muturi agreed to the role, he said, but only after receiving assurances from the President.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him, \u2018If you promise that I\u2019ll work without interference, then I\u2019ll take it.\u2019 He gave me his word,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Muturi served as Attorney General until July 11, 2024, when President Ruto dismissed the entire Cabinet amid nationwide protests.<\/p>\n

In the subsequent reshuffle, Muturi was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Public Service.<\/p>\n

Dorcas Oduor succeeded him as Attorney General.<\/p>\n

On March 26, 2025, Muturi was relieved of his Cabinet position, with Geoffrey Ruku appointed as his replacement.<\/p>\n

During a public address, Ruto criticised Muturi\u2019s tenure as Attorney General, describing his performance as lacking in effectiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a problem with the AG who was there before; he did not meet expectations. But now, I have a very competent lady in the position,\u201d the President said, referencing the handling of Waqf issues.<\/p>\n

In response, Muturi defended his record, saying he stood by his achievements in office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have to defend myself; the record is there for all to see. One of the key promises we made was to make the State Law Office independent. I worked to achieve that with Parliament\u2019s concurrence,\u201d Muturi said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Kenya<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has spoken about how he became Attorney General, describing a process of persuasion by President William Ruto and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang\u2019ula. Muturi, also a former National Assembly Speaker, said he had not sought the role of Attorney General when Ruto offered it to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":145664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-145665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"\nMuturi: How I reluctantly ended up being Attorney General - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has spoken about how he became Attorney General, describing a proc ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Muturi: How I reluctantly ended up being Attorney General\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has spoken about how he became Attorney General, describing a proc ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-17T19:03:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-17T19:31:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2025\/07\/sm_1752764190.650629.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Muturi: How I reluctantly ended up being Attorney General\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-17T19:03:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-17T19:31:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general\"},\"wordCount\":531,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2025\/07\/sm_1752764190.650629.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Kenya\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/muturi-how-i-reluctantly-ended-up-being-attorney-general\",\"name\":\"Muturi: How I reluctantly ended up being Attorney General - 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