Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed Manoa Esipisu as the first State House spokesman and director of the Presidential Press Service (PPS), replacing outgoing director Isaiah Kibira, who is headed to Australia as a high commissioner.
Esipisu, a former journalist with the Standard Group and Reuters, previously worked as spokesman for the Commonwealth Secretariat in London for six years.
He was most recently the special assistant to the head of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
In stating Esipisu’s job description the president said that although he will remain the official spokesperson to the presidency, the media will find it easy to relate with State House and get responses to their questions through the new appointee.
Also appointed wascontroversial blogger Dennis Itumbi, who becomes director for digital, new media and diaspora in the Executive Office of the President (EOP).
In response to his appointment Itumbi on his Facebook profile promised to use the digital platform to interlink the public’s concerns with the government service.
The post read: “My Appreciation To President Uhuru Kenyatta for appointing me as Director Digital, New Media and Diaspora in the Executive Office Of The President (EOP), I pledge to lead the path in delivering the Digital Promise and to connect the concerns and ideas of Kenyans in the Diaspora and those on the digital space with Government service and the Presidency, So Help Me God!”
Others appointed include James Kinyua as director of brand strategy, Munyori Boku as director for external media relations and Eric Ng’eno as director for research and speech writing.
Meanwhile the president has announced that the ICT ministry will establish a national press release service fully equipped by the government and which will offer space for journalists.
