Public Service Cabinet Secretary (CS) Justin Muturi says he has asked to be excused from Cabinet meetings until the topics of extrajudicial murders and police kidnappings were discussed.

Over the last three months, Muturi has missed three Cabinet meetings: January 21, February 11, and March 11, 2025. This has led to speculation that he and President William Ruto may not get along.

Muturi clarified on Wednesday’s appearance on Citizen TV’s JKLive Show that although he is required to attend Cabinet meetings, he had asked President William Ruto for permission to be excused from them because of his position on the extrajudicial killings and police abductions that gained widespread attention after the anti-government protests in June 2024.

“It is mandatory to attend meetings unless given authority or excused by the chair of the Cabinet, who is the president but people do get indisposed for all manner of reasons. In my case, I have written and sought to be excused from Cabinet meetings unless the agenda of abductions and extrajudicial killings is formally tabled before Cabinet, through a Cabinet memorandum, so that the Cabinet is able to express itself and give the country the way forward with regards to abductions and extrajudicial killings. So, I sought to be excused for these reasons,” Muturi said.

The former Attorney General dismissed accusations of insubordination over recent comments he made that appeared to paint the current regime in an unfavorable light, expressing confidence in his role in the Cabinet.

Muturi claims that his action in denouncing the President and the government for the kidnappings and murders of Gen Z demonstrators late last year was in line with his sworn duty as a public servant and that he ought to be commended for it.