Seven petitioners had challenged the removal of Justin Muturi as the Chief Justice and the naming of Dorcas Oduor as his replacement. Dorcas Oduor replaced Justin Muturi as the country’s Attorney General. Led by Magare Gikenyi, they argued that Muturi’s removal was contrary to the country’s constitution, which stipulates incompetence, misconduct and incapacity as the grounds for the Attorney General’s removal from office. Did High Court dismiss Muturi’s reinstatement? According to a report by Nation, despite the petitioner’s argument, the High Court dismissed their petition, stating that Muturi had voluntarily stepped down from office.
The court also established that due process was followed in the resignation of Muturi and the naming of Oduor as his replacement. In addition, the petitioners failed to provide enough evidence that the head of state had unconstitutionally fired Muturi through an Executive Order issued at the peak of Gen Z protests in July 2024. “The petitioner relied on the press release, but there was counter evidence produced by the respondents that the first interested party (Muturi) was not removed but had in fact resigned to enable him to be considered for a Cabinet portfolio,” the court observed. The court upheld the government’s position that Muturi had willingly resigned from office to pave the way for a looming Cabinet reshuffle. Muturi’s exit from office came when President William Ruto bowed to Gen Z pressure and dissolved his entire Cabinet.
Ruto had named the current Tourism Cabinet Secretary, Rebecca Miano, as Muturi’s replacement before settling on Oduor. The only one that had survived the purge at the Cabinet was the Prime Cabinet Musalia Mudavadi, who doubles as the Foreign Affairs CS. Following Muturi’s removal from the AG position, he was appointed to serve as the Public Service CS. However, even that position was short-lived. He served there from August 2024 to March 2025, before being fired, and Geoffrey Ruku was named as his replacement.
By Faith Chandianya
