Ruto: Leave my daughter Charlene alone, she’s just being a child

President William Ruto has defended his daughter Charlene over remarks she recently made about running what she called the ‘Office of the First Daughter’.

Charlene, on December 13 introduced members of her team to a summit held in Arusha, Tanzania, led by one Mike Sagana whom she labelled her principal adviser and Jermaine Momanyi, the head of trade and investments at her office.

The comments sparked controversy among Kenyans online since Kenya does not have the Office of the First Daughter in the constitution, forcing Charlene to issue a statement saying the office is a “private entity” which runs on the support of “facilitators” and not State funds.

In an interview on Wednesday night, President Ruto said his daughter does not have an office and she had made the comments as a “child” who was “just being herself”.

“Leave my daughter Charlene alone. These are kids, they are just being children,” Ruto told journalist James Smart, “You know very well, James, that there is no such office. This is a girl who is just being herself, a child.”

He downplayed Charlene’s unit as just an informal set-up she runs with her “colleagues”, who he said are “pushing” her to try out things.

“She has this space with her colleagues, who are pushing her that ‘we could do this’. She is okay. She is just being the daughter of William Ruto and sometimes she doesn’t know the divide between the president and her father,” Ruto said.

President William Ruto: Leave my daughter Charlene alone. These are kids, they are just being children. There is no office of the First Daughter. This is a girl who is being herself. She is just being the daughter of William Ruto pic.twitter.com/AWdaQNhu6M

In her statement last month, Ms Ruto said some of her office’s objectives are championing what she called youth-based agendas as well as climate action.

“The office runs to purely facilitate the activities of & any programs being run by Ms. Charlene Ruto… Through its independent structure and facilitators, the office has engaged various players across the country and beyond in line with some of its objectives of championing youth-based agendas and climate change advocacy.”

Charlene has, since her father’s assumption of office in September last year, been traversing the country, meeting various county leaders, and even flying out to meetings with foreign dignitaries.

She has branded herself a ‘climate change activist’ and a voice for the youth, which she alluded to in a recent interview when asked about her engagements.

“I feel like there is a lot our president is doing internationally and nationally, also our first lady, our CSs, county governors and that kind of thing, but who is standing up for the youth?” Charlene posed in the interview with YouTuber Mungai Eve.

“Since our president loves the youth so much, we already have a seat on the table, but who is going to push for the youth? That is why I decided to be that person and I’m going to be a voice for the youth and stand up for them and the communities.”