Former Attorney General Justin Muturi has rubbished President William Ruto’s 15 billion tree initiative launched in 2022 to enhance nationwide green cover.

Speaking on Kameme FM on Monday, September 15, 2025, the former National Assembly Speaker termed the initiative a mere scandal with nothing concrete to benefit the country in matters of environmental conservation.

Earlier in the interview, Muturi had also termed the Head of State as a pathological liar who lies without blinking. ” President William Ruto is a pathological liar. He looks you straight in the eye and lies without hesitation. I’ve never encountered anyone like him,” Muturi said.

President Ruto’s 15 billion tree initiative is a government campaign launched in late 2022 to plant 15 billion trees by 2032, aiming to restore degraded ecosystems, achieve 30 per cent forest cover, and combat climate change.

The initiative, also known as “Jaza Miti,” sought to unite governments, communities, and individuals in tree-growing activities, emphasising the nurturing of trees to ensure they thrive and provide long-term benefits for the environment and livelihoods. 

However, in his latest revelation, Muturi, who by then was a key ally of Ruto before the two fell out earlier in 2025, said the tree program is a cash cow meant to benefit the few influential figures. Muturi said he was against the initiative from the initial steps of its birth.

”The so-called 15 billion trees initiative is nothing but a scandal. When I was the Attorney General, I was personally called by Aden Mohammed, William Ruto’s advisor, claiming they had secured $3 billion (Ksh387.7 billion) to fund the project and asking me to draft an MOU,” Muturi said.

”I made it clear to him that the Presidency cannot sign such an MOU. That’s when he rushed to create a phantom outfit, Agriculture Innovation Ministries (AIM), masquerading as an NGO to front the deal. He thought I wouldn’t do my research, but when I dug deeper, I found the NGO to be completely non-existent. A fraud, plain and simple. Now I ask you: have you heard William Ruto talk about the 15 billion trees lately? Of course not. Because I refused to sign off on a scam,” Justin Muturi claimed.

The former Public Service Cabinet Secretary fell out with President Ruto at a time when abduction cases in the country were rampant at the beginning of the year.

Muturi opened Pandora’s box in a damning revelation of how his son, Leslie Muturi, was allegedly abducted and released by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) officers following an order by President William Ruto in 2024.