On the 27th of October 2022, a month after the president and his deputy were sworn into office, Attorney General Justin Bedan Njoka Muturi took the oath of office effectively becoming the government’s principal legal advisor.
Muturi who had previously served as the seventh speaker of the National Assembly for two terms has been at the centre of key legal decisions by the government. His office would find itself in the eye of a storm following the appointment of 50 Chief Administrative Secretaries declared unconstitutional by the high court. Justice Kanyi Kimondo would declare “the second to the 51st interested parties as unconstitutional.” Legal pundits raised eyebrows as the office of the Attorney General filed an appeal that remains a subject of a court process.
The AG’s office would also find itself in a whirlwind as pressure piled on the government to seek a review of the Supreme Court ruling that Okayed the registration and association of the LGBTQ community.
Other government decisions that required legal interpretation was the nomination of four government advisors to cabinet namely UDA party Secretary General Cleophas Malala, Monica Juma (National security), David Ndii (Economic affairs), and Harriette Chiggai (Women affairs). This matter once again ended at the doorstep of the courts.
The most recent legal quagmire was the approval of the Finance Act 2023 that birthed the housing levy which found its way to court. The debate and questions continue as the case continues in court.
His seven-page advisory on the composition of the Media Council of Kenya Board (MCK), warning against appointing media employees, public servants, and media association staff also sparked debate.
The AG has also been hailed for advising the National Treasury to disburse CDF funds to constituencies and advising the government on the need for the Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Bureau of Standards to collaborate in disposing off condemned goods following the debacle of condemned sugar that was sneaked out of a warehouse in Thika. He has also advised the government on the controversial world coin saying it was operating illegally “The World Coin …the company does not appear in the BRS system of registered businesses on campanies in Kenya” advised Muturi.
