The more outgoing of Kenya’s First Family children, Charlene Ruto has broken her silence with a statement indicating outrage at an author who used her name to publish her purported autobiography.
“We have a very bad culture in our country where we misuse people’s names and we get away with it. That is not right and it is not something that I stand with; I submitted my statement to the DCI and we went through the legal procedures,” she said.
Webster Elijah Ochora who turned out in court to be an accomplished publisher never sought nor received consent from Charlene Ruto before publishing the book. His lawyer Kennedy Mongare noted that the author has written a number of books, including works on former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and U.S. President Donald Trump and never had issues of plagiarization or imposter charges preferred.
“The young man detained here is a publisher, an author who has written many books. He has written books on Donald Trump and Raila Odinga. He was in the process of working on a positive piece about Charlene Ruto. It is unfortunate that, without due process, he is being arrested,” Mongare told the court.
The court released Ochora on a KES 50,000 cash bail although the First daughter appeared pissed off and willing to pursue the matter further.
“The gentleman never came to me with a suggestion that he wants to write a book on my behalf, and for me, that was misappropriate use of my name,” Charlene said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
“The day I’m ready to write my book, I will write it; otherwise, nobody should write for you your own book, you should write it yourself.”
Charlene Ruto holds pep talks nationally and internationally on empowerment and entrepreneurship among youth.
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