Justin Muturi is the seventh Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya and the first Speaker to serve following the re-establishment of a bicameral parliament, as mandated by the 2010 Constitution. Before joining politics, he served as chairman of the Judges and Magistrates Association during his time at the Judiciary where he served as principal magistrate. He was also a member of the Africa Parliamentarians Network against corruption, Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against corruption and among others.
On 22nd May 2021, he was crowned as the new Mt. Kenya spokesperson. Hundreds of elders gathered at the Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga shrine in Murang’a ahead of this coronation. Governor Mwangi Wa Iria had vowed not to allow the ceremony to be conducted in the shrine, saying it would desecrate the site. However, Muturi received endorsements from a section of governors from the Mt Kenya region.
“What we need is a steady hand, one that’s already tried and tested, to help president Kenyatta deliver our purpose,” they said.
Age
Justin Muturi was born on the 28th of April 1966.
Education
He started his education journey at a primary school in Mbeere before proceeding to Kangaru Boys High School for his secondary education.
In 1971, he joined the Nairobi University School of law and graduated with an LLB in 1981. He then joined Kenya School of Law for a post graduate diploma in law and was admitted to the bar in 1982.
Family
The National Assembly speaker is married and has three children. Both his wife and children are out of the public eye.
Career
Muturi was first elected as Siakago member of parliament on a Kenyan African National Union (KANU) ticket in the 1999 by-election.
The controversial Speaker served as a principal magistrate in the Judiciary between 1982 and 1997.
In 2002, he was re-elected and went on to serve as opposition chief whip and chair of the public investment committee during the tenth Parliament. In 2007, he vied for re-election but was defeated by Leny Kivuti.
In 2013, he ran for the Mbeere North parliamentary seat as a member of the National Alliance Party but lost to Muriuki Njagagua.
Muturi has also served as a member of various committees including:
- Member of the parliamentary select committee on the constitutional review from 1999 to 2004.
- KANU National organizing secretary in November 2008.
- Chairman of PNU Constitution committee during the national constitutional talks from 2008 to 2010.
- Chairman of the Center for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) in 2012. This was a civil society group that deals with democracy issues in multi party politics.
Coronation As Kikuyu Spokesman
Justin Muturi’s coronation as spokesman of the Mt Kenya region has elicited varied reaction from leaders and Kenyans alike. Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria rubbished the ceremony conducted at the Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga shrine saying it would bring bad luck to the region. He termed the elders who attended and conducted rituals as cultural brokers who misled Muturi.
He urged a speedy cleansing ceremony of the shrine to avoid a bad omen:
“I am asking as many members of this community to come out and condemn the soiling of our place of prayer…..”
In a rejoinder, the NA Speaker stated that he had been approached by the elders who had assessed him and seen he was fit to elevate him to the community’s spokesperson.
“My decoration by the Meru Council of Elders was not solicited but earned. The elders, in their wisdom, reached out through their representatives to confirm that they had silently assessed and unanimously voted to decorate me to that coveted position….”, he told the Standard.
Trivia
In 1997, he was accused of soliciting a bribe to rule in favor of Masaba Hospital founder Dr. Geoffrey Joel Momanyi in a case before him. He was acquitted of the charges.
