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HON JUSTIN MUTURI
ATTORNEY GENERAL, THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA
Hon Justin Muturi is the eighth Attorney General (AG) since independence. He has earned a reputation as a renowned transformational force of the country’s political architecture and for the governance institutions under his leadership.
As the first Speaker of the National Assembly under the new constitutional dispensation, Hon Muturi is credited with the introduction of paperless operations in the National Assembly, overseeing the construction of additional facilities for use by Members and staff of Parliament and the splitting of House Committees for greater specialisation and efficiency.
Faithful to his role as an institutional reform stalwart upon assuming the role of AG, Hon Muturi has prioritised four critical thematic pillars which form the blueprint for the re-organisation of the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice (OAG and DoJ). These include: service delivery, human resource management, resource allocation of the Office, and leveraging technology to enhance both service delivery and operational efficiency, in conformity with the Bottom Up Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Regarding service delivery, the OAG and DoJ bear the responsibility of ensuring equitable access to their services throughout the entire Republic, as mandated by Article 6(3) of the Constitution. Services such as registration, legal profession oversight, litigation, legal aid, victim protection, addressing advocates’ complaints, and the management of estates and trusts inherently involve interactions with the public and hence, the business community.
Hon Muturi embarked on a decentralisation strategy in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior and National Administration. This strategy, which gained Cabinet approval on June 27, 2023, is designed to establish the presence of the Office and make its services easily accessible in all 47 counties.
The Government is the biggest litigator in the country and in order to facilitate effective defence of public interest, Hon Muturi has introduced the establishment of facilities within Sheria House to enable State Counsel attend virtual courts thus revolutionising government legal services and safeguarding the Government’s right to access justice.
In keeping with his role as the principal legal adviser to the Government tasked to coordinate the preparation of legislation required to implement the Constitution, Hon Muturi has developed and transmitted to Parliament the Tribunals Bill, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Policy and the Public Participation Policy.
The Tribunals Bill seeks to give effect to the Constitution in relation to the governance and administrative framework of Tribunals in Kenya.
The ADR Policy actualises the ideals of the Constitution of Kenya through providing a robust framework for strengthening, guiding, and supporting the coordinated growth of ADR practice and uptake in Kenya. In so doing, it gives the Kenyan public the opportunity to resolve disputes through means fashioned to respond to the real and practical world in which they live and socialise.
The Public Participation Policy gives credence to the fact that a country’s governance is based on a social contract, an arrangement in which the right holders only delegate their power to the government but retain the sovereign power. The Constitution places the right holders at the centre of development and related governance processes; it provides for public participation as one of the principles and values of governance.
Cognizant of BETA’s priorities, Hon Muturi has mapped out the legislative agenda to support the implementation of its National Priorities. He has identified and advised on legislation that needs to be enacted or reviewed in the sectors of Agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Housing, Healthcare, ICT, Manufacturing, Environment, Education, Gender and Infrastructure.
In a quest to ensure equal protection for all under the law by implementing and funding the Legal Aid Act of 2016 as provided for under BETA, Hon Muturi has also developed and published the Legal Aid (General) Regulations which were approved by Parliament on 2nd March 2023. The Regulations provide the mechanism to determine who is eligible for Legal Aid as well as qualifications for accreditation of legal aid providers.
Furthermore, Hon Muturi has initiated amendments to the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act (Cap. 164) to provide that the Registrar of Companies shall be responsible for the registration of trusts and issuance of Certificates of Incorporation; processing of applications for incorporation; form of an application; keeping and maintaining of a register; conduct of searches in the registry; and making of Regulations. These changes will ease the work of the Public Trustee by aiding in the timely distribution of assets and will empower beneficiaries and enable them to participate in economic development and wealth creation.
Under his watch, Hon Muturi has secured the appointment of the Acting Coroner General. This is in keeping with the bid to end all forms of extra-judicial executions by security services, and establishing the Coroner General’s Office as per the National Coroner’s Service Act of 2017, as provided for under BETA.
He remains committed to the success of the Ruto administration by providing an enabling legal framework and environment.
