Why The Nation Published This Hot Potato

If there is any media house that can claim the glory for having helped bring the Narc government to power, then the Nation media group has to be at the top of that list. Yet this week, the same newspaper broke recent tradition and published an explosive report on the Anglo Leasing scandal that looks like it will bring the same government to its’ knees.

Readers of the Sunday Nation expected names to be edited out (for legal reasons if nothing else). Instead the report named names. Already there are indications that at least two individuals are looking to take legal action against the newspaper.

In a page one editorial, the Nation top management took full responsibility for their story and stated that they were well aware of the possible consequences and were fully prepared for them.

Analysts were shocked. For a newspaper that only a few days earlier could not even dare state the correct marital status of the President, exposing the Anglo-Leasing scandal was completely out of character. In an overview of the possible presidential candidates in 2007, the Nation claimed that the President is married to one wife - Lucy and that they have four children. The facts are that the President is a polygamist who has two wives (see earlier post on this subject in this blog).

To understand the surprise of analysts, one must appreciate the fact that the Nation group is one of the most profitable companies in Kenya and a respected member of the top corporate blue chips in the country. Publishing such an explosive story required lots of consideration, a fact the Nation management admitted in its’ page one editorial of the Sunday Nation where the Angle-Leasing disclosures first broke.

At this juncture one can only speculate on the behind-the-scenes goings-on that led to the publication of the story.

Could it be that shrewd managers at the media giant have already seen the collapse of the current administration and are carefully re-aligning themselves for the events of the coming months?