Former Duda aide joins Gibała's Kraków office as unpaid volunteer

In brief

• Marcin Kędryna, former head of Andrzej Duda's presidential press office, is advising Kraków mayor Łukasz Gibała on strategy.
• He works as an unpaid volunteer under an agreement running until the end of 2026.
• Three other people support the city office's administration in the same volunteer arrangement.
• The appointments come as Gibała pushes spending cuts and changes to city administration.

Former presidential spokesman joins Kraków city hall

Marcin Kędryna, who led the press office of the Chancellery of the President of Poland during Andrzej Duda's term, has taken a role advising Kraków mayor Łukasz Gibała on strategy (Z kancelarii Andrzeja Dudy do gabinetu prezydenta Łukasza Gibały – krakow.wyborcza.pl) (Współpracownik Andrzeja Dudy doradcą Łukasza Gibały. Pracuje jako wolontariusz – Onet). He started work at the city hall without pay, under an agreement signed with the Kraków City Office (Człowiek Dudy w krakowskim ratuszu. Nie otrzyma ani złotówki – Wirtualna Polska). The agreement lasts until the end of 2026.

A spokeswoman for the city, Patrycja Piekoszewska, said Kędryna's duties follow from that agreement. In a comment to the daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Kędryna said he is not yet handling anything specific and offers the mayor advice within his competences (Były współpracownik Andrzeja Dudy u Łukasza Gibały. Jest wolontariuszem – Rzeczpospolita).

Kędryna was born in Kraków and worked as a journalist before joining the Duda chancellery. He is currently a member of the New Media Council attached to President Karol Nawrocki.

Four volunteers in the city office

Four people in total have begun volunteer work at the Kraków City Office since the new mayor took office, the city's press office told PAP (Człowiek Dudy w krakowskim magistracie. Gibała pozyskał nietypowego wolontariusza – RMF24). Their duties were set individually, and the work is unpaid, the office said. Besides Kędryna, the other three support administrative and office work, including handling incoming and outgoing mail, document circulation and tracking deadlines.

Gazeta Wyborcza reported that the volunteers were to receive pay from an association linked to Gibała, a claim the city office has not confirmed in the same terms.

Context: spending cuts

The appointments come as Gibała announces spending cuts and changes to the city administration. He has said he intends to leave organisations whose membership costs Kraków about 8.2 million zloty a year.