Ruto appoints long-serving aide Maiyo as his Private Secretary

President William Ruto has appointed his long-serving aide Reuben Maiyo as his Private Secretary and George Macgoye as Chief of Staff to DP Rigathi Gachagua. Mr Maiyo has been his Private Secretary even when he served as deputy president during the Jubilee regime.

In an announcement on Monday evening, Dr Ruto also appointed former KTN news reporter Mr Emmanuel Talam as Press Secretary, Presidential Communications Service (formerly PSCU) while former Nation editor and veteran journalist Njeri Rugene will head communications in DP Rigathi Gachagua's office. 

Mr Paul Guare will now be DP Gachagua's Private Secretary. 

Mr Talam has served as the director of communications in the office of President Ruto since he became DP in 2013. He will be working together with the head of PSC, Mr David Mugonyi, who is deputized by former Citizen TV news anchor Hussein Mohamed who will double up as State House Spokesperson.

Mr Mugonyi, a former Nation reporter and head of the parliamentary press unit, joined Dr Ruto’s media team as Dr Ruto's spokesman in 2013 when he was first elected Deputy President alongside President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Mr Mohammed was the head of communications for President Ruto’s presidential campaigns in the 2022 elections, having been appointed in January this year.

Inner sanctums of government 

The post of private secretary puts one in the inner sanctums of the President’s personal events and diary, and Heads of State often put trusted aides in this role. Dr Ruto’s predecessor, ex-President Uhuru Kenyatta, had chosen his nephew Jomo Gecaga for this role.  

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