By Stephen Makabila

Njee Muturi, the new Solicitor General, had before his appointment as been a long serving Personal Assistant and political confidant of President Uhuru Kenyatta, right from his days as a nominated MP in 2002.

But unknown to many, Njee is a son to the late Muturi Njee from Nyeri county, who also served as the private Secretary to the country’s founding President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

The working relationship between Uhuru and Njee who is a lawyer by profession,  thus dates back to family ties dating back to five decades ago between their fathers, both deceased.

While Jomo Kenyatta died in 1978, the older Muturi died much later when Njee was already serving as Uhuru’s Personal assistant.

The high level of confidence between Uhuru and Njee saw the lawyer  serve as the Jubilee Presidential Chief Agent  during the March 4 General Election at the national tallying centre at the Bomas of Kenya.

Njee had also served as the Kanu Executive Director between 2006 and 2009 when Uhuru was the national chairman of the party, further demonstrating their close working relationship.

Njee takes over from Wanjuki Muchemi who has retired.  Muchemi’s tenure as Solicitor General was extended by 12 months after the expiry of his third three-year term in May 2012.

He replaced Julius Kandie who was appointed Kenya’s ambassador to Vienna in 2003.

As a Solicitor General, he will be playing the key role of assisting the Attorney General in the performance of his duties as Principal Legal Adviser to the Government.

He will be organising, co-ordinating and managing the administrative and as the case may be, the legal functions of the State law Office and assisting in formulation of legal policy and ensuring proper administration of Kenya’s Legal System including professional legal education.

He will also be involved in formulating and ensuring implementation of development strategies for Government Legal Services and ensuring preparation of Cabinet Papers and Memoranda and taking follow-up action on Cabinet decisions.

He also has the role of representing government in constitutional and major litigation cases and handling human rights issues among other functions.

Muturi told journalists on Thursday that he will prioritise far-reaching reforms which include the digitisation of all records and making them readily available to Kenyans online.