Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has broken his silence over the withdrawal of security personnel attached to Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi.
This is after Muturi, who also served as the first Attorney General in President William Ruto‘s administration, came out to claim that his security had been withdrawn.
CS Murkomen, in a statement on Tuesday, April 8, however, said he is yet to receive a formal complaint from Muturi on his security detail status, further refuting claims that the alleged withdrawal of security could be political.
According to the Interior CS, the matter should be addressed by the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja if it was done procedurally.
Murkomen also explained that the scale-down of officers is a routine matter in the security sector, especially with regards to officers guarding former public office holders.
He at the same time said officers act as per the law and are not influenced by political situations.
“That is a simple and small matter that should be handled by the IG. If it’s escalated to me, I will address it as per the law,” said the CS, when responding to inquiries.
“We scale down security assigned to public officers once they vacate office. It’s normal and it applies to all, even me, if I leave office it. Security officers operate within the law and are not incidenced by politics.”
Also Read: FACT CHECK: Truth About Justin Muturi Serving as Attorney General Without Being an Advocate
Justin Muturi breaks silence on withdrawal of his security
Muturi, had earlier in a statement on Tuesday said that his security was withdrawn on Monday night.
According to him, the officers were informed not to serve under his security detail anymore because he is “fighting the government”.
This comes after the former CS, who had become increasingly critical of President Ruto’s government, was sacked on March 26.
“Last night at around 7:30 p.m., my security detail was withdrawn. The two officers who had been assigned to me owing to my previous position as Speaker of the National Assembly were instructed not to report on duty today,” he said.
“If this is yet another attempt to cow me into silence, they’ve dialed yet another wrong number.”
Muturi grew critical of Ruto’s government over the spate of abductions targeting youth since last year’s Gen Z-led anti-government demonstrations. His own son Leslie Muturi was abducted and later released.
The then-CS went on to boycott Cabinet meetings, maintaining that he would do so until the issue was addressed as a major agenda, which he said never happened.
This was until President Ruto nominated Mbeere North Member of Parliament Geoffrey Ruku to fill the Public Service CS docket.
In an interview with media stations last week, the Head of State said that Muturi’s absence from Cabinet meetings demonstrated defiance, leaving him with no option but to relieve him of his duties.
The new development on the reported withdrawal of Muturi’s security comes after the former AG called out President Ruto accusing him of claiming to fight corruption while he allegedly secretly conducts corrupt deals worth billions.
President Ruto linked to multibillion deals, accused of being corrupt
Speaking during an interview on NTV’s “Fixing the Nation” on Friday, April 4, he alleged that the president portrays different characters from the one in public and the one behind closed doors.
Also Read: Muturi Issues Warning to President Ruto
While accusing Ruto of being corrupt, Muturi claimed that the Head of State attempted to arm-twist him to hurriedly sign a $1 billion (approximately Ksh129 billion) deal with unidentified Russian Oligarchs on planting trees.
The former CS explained that the deal would have contravened the law, highlighting that such funds must go through the National Treasury and should not be channeled directly to a Ministry.
“I was invited to attend the COP 28 in Dubai 2023. During that same time, some Russian oligarchs had offered to invest $1 billion here in Kenya. I landed in Dubai and received a phone call from Ruto, who told me that the Russians were waiting at the airport, and I needed to sign the documents. I declined, saying I needed to review the documents in the office,” he revealed.
“The deal purported to give a grant of $1 billion to allegedly grow a3 billion trees. Whenever Ruto comes up with a project, it’s for moneymaking. So, they bring me an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) and I tell them that the $1 billion can only be by a grant but can’t come directly to the ministry. It only goes through the Treasury.”
Muturi further revealed that he could provide the supporting documents on softcopy to back his allegations.
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