President William Ruto's daughter, Charlene Ruto, has broken her silence following the arrest and charging of Webster Ochora Elijah, who is accused of publishing a book about her without her consent.
Speaking on Tuesday, June 3, Charlene condemned the unauthorized use of her name and distanced herself from the publication.
"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.
According to Charlene, the author of the book, Webster Ochora, never approached her or sought any form of approval to author a book on her behalf.
"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.
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"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," she added.
On Tuesday, Ochora was arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts, where he was charged with identity theft and released on a Ksh50,000 cash bail.
He was arrested on Monday, June 2, for publishing the book titled, Beyond the Name: Charlene Ruto and the Youth Uprising, and locked up at Muthaiga Police Station.
The police also seized Ochora’s laptop for forensic examination as part of the investigation to seek digital evidence.
Speaking after the arrest, Ochora’s legal counsel condemned the detention, describing it as unlawful.
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.
“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,” he said.
