A career civil servant and perhaps Kibaki’s closest long-time ally, Francis Muthaura is known for keeping a low profile. He held several ambassadorial positions overseas during Moi’s presidency, and was moved to the head of the country’s sprawling government machinery in 2002. Hailing from the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, where tribes are closely linked to Kibaki’s Kikuyus, he carried out the swearing-in of Kibaki after the 2007 election.
As well as heading the civil service, he sits in the cabinet and, perhaps most pertinently, is chairman of the national security advisory committee that would have steered government response to the post-election crisis. It is understood that he has Kibaki’s ear. While never boasting of ambitions to elected office, he is one of the most powerful men around the president and a key figure in the Kikuyu-controlled elite running Kenya politically and economically, which is nicknamed the Mount Kenya Mafia.
He is accused of leading secret meetings in KIbaki's office, where revenge attacks against supporters of Kibaki’s opposition were planned. The ICC prosecutor claims he authorized the use of excessive force against protesters by the police.