In a new change of events, President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed former Kenya Defence Forces spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna as the new government spokesman.
Many know Oguna thanks to the Linda Nchi operations in Somalia. He came into the limelight when the Kenya Defence Forces entered Somalia in 2011 to battle Al-Shabaab militants.
Before his appointment, Oguna served as joint national and resource mapping project spokesman. Between 2014 and 2017, he served as Defense Advisor/ Attache at Kenya’s High Commission in the United Republic of Tanzania.
Colonel Cyrus Oguna became KDF’s public face. The eloquent speaker conveyed with enthusiasm progress made by the forces in Operation Linda Nchi.
He drew praise from many over the way he handled tricky questions from nosy journalists.
Col Oguna faded from the limelight when KDF officially joined the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), sparking inquiries on his whereabouts. Under this arrangement, Amisom had the responsibility of giving updates.
However, the spokesperson was to return to the public sphere when Kenya was allocated 16 top positions at the Amisom headquarters, including heading the Public Information Unit, which Col Oguna was supposed to take up.
Following the changes at Amisom, Col Oguna was redeployed back to the KDF headquarters where he resumed his previous work as the information operations officer.
Oguna is a career military officer who has held various positions relating to the management of personnel, operations, training and communications with KDF and the government.
Prior to this, Oguna headed KDF’s Intelligence Training School.
He holds a Master of Arts degree, from the University of Nairobi and is currently pursuing a second Masters degree in International Studies from the same institution. He is also a graduate of the prestigious National Defense College, Kenya.
During the course of his career, Oguna was awarded several medals which include Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear. Oguna is married with two children.