David Mugonyi: William Ruto's Spokesperson Appointed CA Director General After Chiloba's Resignation

• The appointment of David Mugonyi to the director general's post at the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) was sanctioned by ICT CS Eliud Owalo
• Mugonyi, who joined President William Ruto's communication circle in the latter's days as deputy president, will be replacing Ezra Chiloba
• Until his appointment, Mugonyi, a career journalist, served as the Head of the Presidential Communication Service

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi - David Mugonyi is the new Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) director general.

The appointment was sanctioned by the ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo, who addressed a letter to the agency's board chairperson, Mary Wambui.

“Conveying approval for the appointment of Mr. David Mugonyi as the Director General of the Communications Authority of Kenya. You may now proceed and take appropriate action to formalize the appointment,” the letter read.

The board chair reverted in the affirmative, revealing that Mugonyi emerged as the best candidate following the interviews.

"We had applicants and after shorting, we interviewed and avid Mugonyi qualified to be the best candidate," said Mary.

Ruto's right-hand man gets state's top job

The Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei was also notified of the appointment.

Mugonyi has been in Ruto's communication circle for a time from the days the latter deputised retired president Uhuru Kenyatta.

He had a stint with the Nation Media Group (NMG) before moving to parliament, and later in Ruto's fold until his appointment.

Mugonyi will substantively replace Ezra Chiloba, who gave up the director general post in October this year.

Chiloba's decision to quit came after the board suspended him in the course of a probe into a supposedly flawed mortgage scheme under his watch.

To go after him later would be the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The anti-graft agency demanded several deeds in his custody to investigate alleged corruption malpractices as regards the management of the CAK mortgage scheme.

What EACC wanted from Chiloba

Chiloba allegedly abused his office and undertook a conflict of interest that saw the authority lose millions in the mortgage plan between the 2021/22 and 2023/24 fiscal years.

In a letter addressed to him on September 29, the EACC demanded various documents to aid in the probe.

The commission asked Chiloba to submit a mortgage loan budget for the financial year 2021/2022 to 2023/2024, bank account statements for the mortgage scheme for the period 2021/2022 to 2023/2024, an internal audit report, the National Treasury audit report and the mortgage loan policy for CAK.

Others were the mortgage loan book for CAK, authorised panel of valuers at CAK, minutes of the Special Board Audit and Risk Assurance Committee dated August 8, 2023, and his mortgage loan application form accompanied by; a title deed, search certificate, sale agreement and the details of the vendor among others.

Christopher Wambua took Chiloba's position on an interim basis following his suspension.

"Following a meeting of the Authority’s Board held on 18th September 2023, resulting in the suspension of the Director General, I am pleased to inform all staff of the appointment of Christopher Wambua as a Director General in Acting Capacity effective today until further notice. I trust that you will accord him the necessary support," read an excerpt of the board's memo.

The suspension came two years after he was appointed to succeed the late Francis Wangusi, who had retired in 2019 after taking over in 2012; the director general was occupied on an interim basis until Chiloba's confirmation in October 2021.

Wangusi died in March 2023.