Prior to this appointment, he served as the Secretary for Public Communication at State House.
President William Ruto has appointed Munyori Buku as the new Head of the Presidential Communication Service, three months after he exposed the lack of proper communication from his communications team.
Per a statement from State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed, Buku brings over 26 years of senior-level experience in strategic communication within both the public and private sectors.
Prior to this appointment, he served as the Secretary for Public Communication at State House.
“Other notable roles he has held include Senior Director of Public Communication at State House, Director of Communication in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance, and Editorial Manager at the Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board,” read the statement in part on October 9, 2024.
Photo of newly-appointed Head of the Presidential Communication Service Munyori Buku. /X
In the private sector, Buku held key editorial positions, including Managing Editor at the Standard Group and Sub-Editor at the Nation Media Group, among other senior roles.
His career began in education, where he worked as a teacher in several high schools across Kenya before transitioning to media and communications.
Buku holds a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Education (Arts) from Kenyatta University.
President Ruto on Sunday, June 30 admitted the lack of proper communication around the Finance Bill 2024 which had it not been the case, could have prevented the deadly protests and eventual withdrawal of the bill.
Speaking during a candid interview with digital journalists, the Head of State faulted his communications team for failing to communicate its agenda better and to the right people. However, he expressed that he was willing to put things right and reach out to the young people of Kenya through the media channels that they relied on the most.
“In the current situation, we have a misunderstanding. We have a miscommunication. Partly, I am to blame, I should communicate better.
“You have told me that maybe my communication is not getting to the right people because I’m communicating using the wrong media. Maybe to be able to reach these many young people, I should be able to get into the media where they are so that I can communicate better to them,” he stated.
He explained that by utilising the media platforms common amongst the youth, they would understand “what we are doing, understanding the reasons why we are doing what we are doing, they would instead of opposing what we are doing, they would add value to what we are doing and support and benefit from what we are doing.”
“That is why I want us to have this engagement. I want to listen to them, I want them to tell me ‘Mr President, you are doing housing but you are not doing it properly. Change here, adjust here, you’re doing export of labour, you’re not doing it properly. You have helped us with TikTok, we are not yet there’.
“I need to understand because, in my honest opinion, I thought I was implementing the plan we have together. I am trying to deal with a problem that is 50 years old,” he continued.