Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary (CS) Justin Muturi has sensationally accused President William Ruto of being at the centre of Kenya’s bribery culture in Parliament, dismissing the Head of State’s recent remarks on corruption among MPs as “hypocrisy.”

Earlier this week, President Ruto publicly claimed that legislators were accepting bribes to influence parliamentary decisions, vowing arrests if evidence was provided.

However, Muturi, in a strong-worded statement released on Monday, August 25, insists the President himself played a direct role in institutionalising the practice soon after assuming power in 2022.

According to Muturi, Ruto’s first political manoeuvre after being sworn in was to consolidate parliamentary numbers by enticing opposition MPs and independents with promises of influential committee positions, cash inducements, and state patronage. This, he argues, transformed a fragile minority government into a commanding majority overnight.

“Beneath the noise lies an undeniable truth: the President himself is the architect and beneficiary of Kenya’s bribery culture in Parliament. His hands are not clean, and his accusations are nothing more than a hollow charade,” he fired.

“Let us not forget how we arrived here. The first thing William Ruto did upon assuming power in 2022 was not to build a national consensus, strengthen the rule of law, or deliver on his campaign promises. No, his first political move was to raid the opposition benches. Starved of numbers in Parliament, Ruto turned to the oldest trick in Kenya’s dirty political playbook: buying loyalty. He lured opposition MPs and independents to his side with promises of plum committee positions, cash inducements, and state patronage.”

“This is the context that makes the President’s sudden outcry against bribery so laughable. How can the very man whose fingerprints are all over the buying of Parliament now turn around and pretend to be shocked that MPs are corruptible? How can the same hand that fed the vice now wave in righteous indignation? It is the height of hypocrisy,” he went on.

He further alleged that the passage of the contentious Finance Bill was facilitated through intimidation, coercion, and bribery, with dissenting MPs facing budgetary cuts and political isolation while compliant lawmakers were “rewarded handsomely.”

Muturi questioned the President’s credibility in demanding names of bribed MPs, arguing that the money trail would ultimately point back to State House. “He does not need whistleblowers. He needs only to look in the mirror,” he continued.

The former Speaker also dismissed Ruto’s threat to arrest legislators over corruption as political theatre aimed at diverting attention from economic hardship and mounting scandals within his administration.

He further challenged the President to subject his administration to scrutiny, including opening up State House records on inducements allegedly offered to MPs in 2022.

“Kenyans are not fools. The people may struggle with poverty and joblessness, but they are not stupid. They see through the President’s theatrics. When Ruto claims he will have bribed MPs arrested but then adds he will “not shame them,” it is obvious he is playing both judge and defence counsel. He is not interested in accountability. He is interested in a political show. An incursion meant to distract the public from the failures of his administration, the soaring cost of living, and the corruption scandals that keep piling up around his government,” he continued.

“And let us be clear: nothing will come of these threats. No MP will be arrested. No case will be prosecuted. No precedent will be set. Because the rot is not in Parliament alone; it is in State House itself. Ruto knows that dragging MPs into court over bribery would eventually lead straight back to his doorstep. The money trail does not end in the constituencies. It ends in the executive.”

At a joint parliamentary group meeting, President Ruto alleged that some legislators pocketed as much as Ksh10 million to push through the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, while others received up to Ksh150 million from county governments to derail certain laws.

He responded by unveiling a multi-agency task force to lead the anti-corruption drive. However, the High Court has halted the initiative, ruling that it circumvented established constitutional procedures.