Moments before his sacking, outgoing Public Service Cabinet Justin Muturi engaged in a public spat with President William Ruto. 

Days before Ruto starts a weeklong tour of the Mt Kenya region, he accused Muturi of incompetence when he served as Attorney General. 

Ruto’s tour of at least two counties in the region is supposed to start on Tuesday. 

The differences between the duo started when the President, addressing Muslim leaders during an Iftar event at State House on Tuesday, labelled Muturi as an incompetent Attorney General. 

Ruto claimed Muturi had delayed the rollout of the Muslim Endowment Fund (Waqf), an Islamic concept of an endowment whereby property is dedicated for a religious, charitable or benevolent purpose and overseen by a commission that had been proposed by Muslim leaders. 

But that challenge, Ruto said, had been addressed since the appointment of Dorcas Oduor as Attorney General, with the President saying the fund will be activated. 

Said Ruto: “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.” 

Abductions controversy 

But, writing on his X page, Muturi explained that the Waqf Act No.8 of 2022 did not include a provision for a Muslim Endowment Fund. 

He said: “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.” 

Ruto’s remarks highlighted ongoing differences between him and Muturi, with insiders predicting that he would be kicked out of the Cabinet in the expected reshuffle. 

That prediction came to pass yesterday when Ruto made changes to his Cabinet, dropping Muturi in the process. 

Muturi was removed as Attorney General in June 2024 following Gen Z-led protests that resulted in the dismissal of most of Ruto’s Cabinet. 

The relationship between Ruto and Muturi had deteriorated since, with the latter accusing the State of abductions and killings of Gen Z critics of the government and claiming his son was among those kidnapped. 

Muturi had asked that he be excused from Cabinet meetings until the issues of police abductions and extrajudicial killings were put on the agenda. 

“This is murder most foul. It is only fair that, at this point, the country shelves any other business to discuss this matter of abductions and extrajudicial killings,” Muturi said on January 31 after the bodies of two of four young men abducted in Mlolongo were found.