Linturi challenges Ruto over job promise

Former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has firmly dismissed assertions made by President William Ruto that they are regularly in touch and that discussions are ongoing regarding his potential return to a government role.

During an exclusive interview with Weru TV on Sunday, April 20, 2025, Linturi labeled the president’s statements as inaccurate and misleading.

While on a development tour of the Mt. Kenya region in April 2025, President William Ruto, during a stop in Meru County, claimed that he maintained a friendly relationship with Mithika Linturi and that they were in discussions about a possible return to government for the former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary.

Ruto made these remarks in response to appeals from Meru Governor Mutuma M’ethingia and other local leaders, who had urged the president to reinstate Linturi, arguing that his dismissal had been unjust.

However, Linturi firmly denied the claims, stating that he had not engaged in any conversations with the president regarding a government position.

According to him, their last interaction was on December 10, 2024, when he accompanied a delegation of Meru bishops to State House at the president's invitation.

"Mutuma did a good thing by asking the president to consider me for a government role. That was commendable, and I want the people of Meru to recognize that he has good intentions," Linturi said.

"But after he spoke, the president responded by saying, ‘Mithika nitampanga na tunaongea na yeye.’  (Translation: I will sort Mithika out and will speak to him) That was false. He claimed we were in talks and that I was about to be appointed to a state job. That’s simply not true."

Linturi, who was removed from the cabinet earlier this year following the fake fertiliser scandal, appeared frustrated by what he described as a distortion of the truth.

"The last time I spoke with the president was on December 10th. I wasn’t there to seek a job—I was accompanying bishops from Meru. That was our last interaction. So for him to suggest that we’re constantly in communication is misleading," he emphasized.

The former senator made it clear that he had no intention of rejoining President Ruto’s administration.

He asserted his independence, stating that he is fully capable of sustaining himself and has no desire—nor desperation—for a government position, especially from a president who, in his view, failed to stand by him during his tenure as Agriculture Cabinet Secretary.