President William Ruto has appointed Munyori Buku to head the presidential press service following a vacancy in the position occasioned by the appointment of former State House communications boss David Mugonyi to Communications Authority.
Munyori Buku was appointed to head the critical communications department after serving as the Public Communications Secretary at the State House since his appointment in 2023.
“President William Ruto has appointed Munyori Buku as the new Head of the Presidential Communication Service. Mr. 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,” State House spokesperson Hussein Mohammed noted in a statement on October 9, 2024.
Before his career in the media industry, Buku began as a trained teacher and taught in various schools in Kenya before settling in the press.
Buku held senior editorial positions in some of the top media houses in the country before he was appointed to work for the 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.
Buku holds a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Education (Arts) from Kenyatta University.
The previous occupier of Buku’s position- David Mugonyi- began his career as a journalist before transitioning to the National Assembly, where he ascended to the senior-most position of head of communications.
From the National Assembly, Mugonyi gained the trust of President William Ruto who identified him as a close ally and retained him from the period he was deputy president.
Mugonyi was appointed to replace Chiloba who resigned in October 2023, having been appointed in October 2021.