Charlene Ruto, the daughter of Kenyan President William Ruto, has defended her “Office of the First Daughter” in the face of criticism from the east African country.
At a function on Tuesday, Charlene said she ran the first daughter’s office and later introduced members of her team, according to Tuko, a Kenyan online newspaper.
“Before again I continue, I wanted to introduce my team quickly from Kenya,” Charlene said.
She introduced one, Mike Sagana, whom she said was a politician and her principal advisor.
“And this is Jermain Momanyi, the head of Trade and Investment at the Office of the First Daughter,” she added.
The news sparked outrage on social media, with her name trending on Twitter.
In response to public outrage, she stated on Wednesday that the “Office of the First Daughter” is private.
She clarified that it was not constitutional and assured Kenyans that taxpayers did not fund it.
“The Office of the First Daughter is a private entity. It is neither a constitutional office nor funded by Kenyan taxpayers. The office runs to purely facilitate the activities of and any programs by Ms Charlene Ruto,” the statement partly read.
She said the office has been engaging different stakeholders as part of its objectives, which include advocating for youth-based agendas and climate change advocacy.
“The Office of the First Daughter has acted in good faith to ensure that the Kenyan Youth have a voice and get access to opportunities to enable sustainable livelihoods,” Charlene added.