The government has announced that it will be selling the Presidential Portraits for President William Ruto for Ksh300, in what it terms a "token fee".
In a statement on Thursday, the government spokesperson Col. (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna said that the portraits will be available at Uchumi House and all county and sub-county officers.
"Following the inauguration into office of H.E Hon. William Samoei Ruto, as the President of the Republic of Kenya, we wish to inform our people that presidential portraits are now available. They can be collected from the Department of Information at the 5th floor, Uchumi House, Agakhan Walk, Nairobi. Offices and individuals at the county and sub-county levels can get their copies from County/Sub-county Information Officers," said Oguna.
"A token fee of Kshs 300 is charged for each portrait."
Tradition of having a Presidential portrait
Government institutions and business enterprises are required to display a portrait of the reigning President, a tradition that dates back to the 1960s.
In 2013, the Ministry of Information Communications and Technology said that it was compulsory for government offices to have an official portrait in their offices.
"There is a requirement for government offices to display the portraits. Those in the private sector can do it at their own pleasure,” former ICT PS Bitange Ndemo said then.
Unlike his predecessors, President Ruto has come up with a new design of the Presidential Portrait, having a Kenyan flag in the background.
Although the National Flag, Emblems and Names Act also does not list or require citizens to display the President’s portrait, the practice has been kept for years.
