President William Ruto has appointed former Police spokesperson Charles Owino as the new chair of the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC).
In a gazette notice on Friday September 29, Ruto announced the appointment saying Owino will serve in the role for a year.
Ruto revoked the appointment of former KTN presenter Kathleen Openda who has served in the position for 5 years.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 7 (3) of the State Corporations Act, 1, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint Charles Owino Wahong’o to be the Chairperson of the Council to the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, with effect from the 29th September, 2023 up to the 5th October, 2024. The appointment of Kathleen Openda is revoked,” the notice read.
Owino served as the police spokesman from 2015 until 2021 before entering politics.
Initially he planed to run for the Siaya governor seat but later joined forces with former Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo to oppose James Orengo.
He however quit the race and returned to the police service on May 18, 2022 where he served as the director of the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
He later decamped to the Kenya Kwanza coalition after President William Ruto won the 2022 general election.
Prior to the appointment, the former police spokesperson was serving as the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party Siaya County Coordinator a position he was appointed to by UDA SG Claophas Malala in July.
Owino replaced Dianga Waore who left the position after he was appointed as the Chairman of the Lake Region Development Authority.
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