Executive Order: Ruto Overhauls Media Team From Uhuru's Term

President William Ruto has done away with the names of the communications departments under former President Uhuru Kenyatta in a rebrand to fit his legacy.

In his Executive Order No 1 of 2022, which he amended from Uhuru's Executive Order No. 1 of 2020 issued on January 14, 2020, the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU) will no longer be in place in Ruto's government as it was in Uhuru's term.

Ruto's communications department will be instead called the Presidential Communication Service (PCS), which will relay official communications from the Office of the President (OP). 

Also dropped is the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) which will be called Government Delivery Unit (GDU). The government institution which was formed in 2015 by Uhuru was moved to the Office of the Chief Cabinet Secretary under Musalia Mudavadi.

During Uhuru's term, PDU was run by outgoing Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i and was mandated to coordinate government programmes and ensure that projects launched by Uhuru were accomplished on time.

However, Ruto retained the office of Deputy Head of the Presidential Communication Service and State House Spokesperson, which is currently held by former Citizen TV anchor, Kanze Dena.

Uhuru's media team went by the name PSCU after taking power in 2013, dropping the Presidential Press Service (PPS) under the late Kenya's third President, Mwai Kibaki. It was also adopted by the late Daniel Arap Moi, Kibaki's predecessor.

One of the key changes by the new communications team is the discontinuation of the State House logo watermark, a prominent feature in Uhuru's photos capturing him in events within and outside of the country, though it is not clear if the PCS will adopt their own watermark.

Another change happens to be the domain of the State House website being www.statehouse.go.ke from www.president.go.ke, though the new one is not active yet, according to spot checks by Viral Tea.

The previous website which was heavily relied on by media houses for all of Uhuru's press releases, Executive Orders, directives, intervention measures and other government details, was wiped clean by Ruto's team. 

Videos, photographs and digital content, details of key State House staff, development projects and an extension of former First Lady, Margaret Kenyatta's work, were done away with. All that information can now be found on the Presidential Library, Museum and Exhibition website.

What remains is who will take over from Kanze Dena as State House spokesperson, with former Citizen TV anchor Hussein Mohamed, touted as a strong favourite.

He worked as the William Samoei Ruto (WSR) communications director and was a major instrument in Ruto's campaign period and August 9, 2022 elections victory

Dennis Itumbi, who played a key role in campaigning for Ruto on social media through his Hustler National Intelligence Bureau (HNIB) reports where he reportedly worked with over 500 influencers and bloggers to mastermind Ruto's victory could feature in the Presidential communications team.

Also a possible feature in the media team is Ruto's spokesman, Emmanuel Talam and Ruto's long-time strategist, David Mugonyi.

President William Ruto with Hussein Mohamed as they walk in New York City, USA. /FILE