Many Kenyans have grown up assuming that displaying the President’s portrait in a shop or office is a legal requirement, but a lawyer has set the record straight in a video that has since caught fire online.
Filmed in a simple selfie-style format with bold captions overlaid on screen, the clip features a legal professional directly addressing a question that, judging by the response it has generated, far more people were uncertain about than expected.
What the Law Actually Says
The lawyer explained that while President William Ruto holds the symbolic role of uniting the nation, that status does not translate into a legal obligation for business owners or individuals to display his image on their premises.
“There is no law in Kenya requiring anyone to put up the photo of the President in the business premises,” the lawyer said.
“In any event, if you choose not to put up President Ruto’s photo, nobody can compel you to do so.”
The clarification is significant in a country where framed portraits of the sitting president are a near-universal fixture in offices, shops, schools and government buildings.
The practice is so deeply ingrained that many Kenyans have long treated it as a formal requirement rather than a voluntary custom.
Kenyans React to the Revelation
The video drew a lively response from Kenyans who found the clarification both surprising and long overdue.
@Moses Kinangoi:
“What??? My whole life I grew up knowing that was the first requirement”
@Sam Murithi:
“As a business or institution, it is in your favour or just good faith to have the portrait of the president. Esp if you have to go to govt offices to seek licenses to operate 🤣. Utajua”
@Stephen Mwamba:
“You do a great job explaining commonly used laws in Kenya. Knowledge is power. In a court or magistrate’s court, ignorance is not recognised.”
The reaction from @Sam Murithi points to a practical reality that persists alongside the legal one: even if displaying the President’s photo is not compulsory, many business owners feel it is in their interest to do so, particularly when dealing with government offices or seeking licences.
Whether driven by genuine respect, social convention or strategic caution, the portrait has become a fixture that legal facts alone may not dislodge from Kenyan business culture any time soon.
