What Charlene Ruto's Office of the First Daughter Does
She added that the office only caters for the activities of and programs that she runs.
admin
President William Ruto's daughter, Charlene Ruto has been forced to clarify the true purpose of the Office of the First Daughter which was subject to criticism from Tuesday, December 13.
In a statement shared on her Twitter page on Wednesday, December 14, she noted that the office is a private entity and is neither provided for in the Constitution of Kenya nor is it being funded by taxpaying Kenyans.
She added that the office only caters for the activities of and programs that she runs.
According to Charlene Ruto, there is an Office of the First Daughter ????
????️: Courtesy#ViralVideos pic.twitter.com/sXHPF4U7Qv — Viral Tea Ke (@ViralTeaKe) December 13, 2022
"The Office of the First Daughter is a private entity. It is neither a constitutional office nor is it being funded by Kenyan taxpayers.
"The office runs to purely facilitate the activities of and any programs being run by Ms Charlene Ruto. Through its independent structure and facilitators, the office has engaged various players across the country and beyond in line with some of its objectives of championing youth-based agendas and climate change advocacy," she stated.
Charlene added that the Office of the First Daughter has at all times acted in good faith to ensure that the Kenyan Youth have a voice and get access to opportunities to enable sustainable livelihoods.
The statement was seen as a bold response to a flood of critics who questioned the existence of the office in the country.
"I have come across the president's daughter indicating to have a staffed office of the first daughter. This is a very unique development. Who is funding the activities of this office? William Nyakwanda queried.
"All the 4 former Kenya Presidents had daughters and we never at no point heard of something like "Office of the First Daughter".
"So the question every Kenyan is asking is, is this Office Constitutional? If NO, why are taxpayers funding an unconstitutional office?" Joseh weighed in.
Her exposure of the office during the YouLead Summit in Arusha, Tanzania where she was in attendance was captured in a video that turned her into a viral sensation overnight, yet again.
“So before again I continue, I wanted to introduce quickly my team from Kenya. So, I’ll start from the back. This is Mike Sagana, he’s one of my team members.
"He’s a politician and he’s my principal advisor in my team. And this is Jermaine Momanyi, he is the head of trade and investments at the office of the first daughter…I don't get what is so funny...” she addressed much to the laughter of the audience.
Kenyans questioned how Charlene constituted and ground such an office out of the blue as well as the legalities of doing so, given that it's not a role that has been synonymous with First Daughters of previous presidents.
Charlene Ruto has used a variety of situations to increase her presence online as well as her profile as the First Daughter. She has been engaged in high-profile public events despite her father not appointing her to a government role.
With regards to the YouLead summit, Charlene revealed that she got wind of it from a former schoolmate.
"I heard about the YouLead Summit from a friend I went to school with.
"I searched about it on the YouLead website and now that I am here, I am glad that I came," she stated, adding that she primarily attended the event to listen to fellow young Africans and contribute to the solutions towards creation of a One Young Africa.
