Ex-CS Muturi slams Ruto’s State House empowerment drive

Former Public Service CS Justine Muturi/HANDOUT

Former Public Service CS Justine Muturi has criticised President William Ruto’s empowerment drive held at State House, on Saturday.

According to Muturi, the President’s approach to youth employment was a charity handout dressed as jobs.

Muturi said the government’s focus on giving boda bodas and other small-scale hustles to young people was a poverty cycle rather than genuine job creation.

“Instead of tackling the structural unemployment crisis, the UDA government’s ‘solution’ is to hand out boda bodas and call it empowerment. That’s not job creation that’s locking youth into a poverty cycle and asking them to clap for it. It’s like giving someone a spoon to dig a dam,” he said.

His remarks come after Ruto hosted 15,000 youths from across the 85 Wards in Nairobi County at State House, Nairobi.

During the event, the youths received machinery, including motorbikes, car washing machines, and sewing machines, among others.

Muturi accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of tokenism, arguing that serious economies invest in innovation hubs, tech funding, manufacturing skills, and green energy jobs.

“Kenya’s ‘youth policy’ is basically: Here’s a wheelbarrow, now go make us proud. It’s policy cosplay, not policy substance,” he said.

The former CS added that promoting small hustles as a national vision sends the message that young people should not dream big.

He called it an insult wrapped in a smile and warned that producing more boda bodas than engineers signalled economic stagnation.

“It’s political theatre: the youth become props, not partners in development,” he said, adding that the government is missing a goldmine of potential by ignoring large-scale job creation in sectors such as tech, creative industries, and renewable energy.

“The biggest insult? Calling it empowerment. The boda-boda policy is poverty with a helmet… Mr President, stop calling crumbs a feast.”

Muturi, who also served as Attorney General fell out with President Ruto following the abduction of his son over the Gen Z, anti-government protests of June 2024.

This led to his dismissal from the Cabinet and he was replaced by Geoffrey Ruku who comes from the same community as him.

He has since teamed up with leaders of the united opposition as they hope to form the next government in the 2027 elections.