A recent study by Steadmann and Associates released last week showed that Kenyans have more faith in the press than their leaders and stories printed in newspapers are always considered to be the gospel truth. Kenyans could not be more gullible.
Having worked for one of the leading daily papers in Kenya for over 15 years, it is my view that journalists are more corrupt than the police who usually emerge tops in the corruption list released annually to the chagrin of the civil service.
It is common practice that after attending a press conference hosted by a politician, white envelopes are passed around by the politicians' aides in the name of a press statement. However these envelopes could contain as little as Sh 1,000 or as much as Sh 10,000 depending on the gravity of the story the politician wants to appear in the media.
Other journalists are so aggressively crude that they demand bribes menacingly from politicians telling them there is no way he or she can get coverage unless he parts with 'something small' to oil his hands and those of his or her superiors. Kenya news agency and Kenya Broadcasting corporation journalists are notorious for this.
The mainstream newspaper journalists are more sophisticated in how they go about soliciting for bribes from top politicians and corporate executives and start off by 'digging for dirt' about their potential victims before calling them with the dossier for a comment. Predictably they end up being paid off handsomely to 'kill' certain unfavorable elements of the story.
The mark of corruption in media extends as high up the ladder as it can get and senior editors are known to be in the pockets of powerful politicians with the former briefing the latter on any negative story about him that lands in the newsroom.
A one time managing editor of the STANDARD, Kamau Kanyanga was in the pay roll of Kamlesh Pattni who is said to have rewarded him so handsomely that he built a palatial home in Ongata Rongai after he was finally fired from the newspaper for graft.
It is an open secret that Dennis Onyango of the STANDARD is on the payroll of Raila Odinga and briefs the Langata MP almost daily on stories sent to the newsroom that are critical of him. If Onyango is the seniormost editor in the newroom when the story arrives, he 'trashes' it then calls Raila.
The case is no different at Nation center, during Wilfred Kiboro's tenure as chief executive officer, a local company filed a civil suite against president Kibaki for failing to clear a debt while he was official leader of the opposition. STANDARD 'splashed' the story while Nation 'killed' it as Kibaki and Kiboro are known to be extremely good friends.
It is after this incident that Kenyans faith in the DAILY NATION started dropping while the star of its rival, STANDARD started rising as they got bolder in taking on the government of the day on pertinent issues like corruption and tribalism.
Politician Kenneth Matiba had at one time decided that journalist Mutegi Njau of the NATION was invaluable to him and decided to buy him a new car which he quickly sold off so as not to attract any attention from his superiors.
Then there is the case of former powerful minister Chris Murungaru and STANDARD parliamentary reporter Ben Agina where the latter was always informed of the ministers' press conferences before the information got to the newsroom and would return to I and M towers with the story even as editors were still trying to dispatch news crews to cover the function. Murungaru was notoriously known for dishing out thousands of shillings to journalists especially at the time when graft allegations were being leveled against him.
The stories are endless but here is a list of a few prominent politicians who are known to dish out cash to journalists so as to get good coverage. Chris Murungaru, Njenga Karume, Hosea Kiplagat, George Saitoti, Maina Kamanda, David Mwenje, Kipruto arap Kirwa, Raila Odinga, Najib Balala, Nicholas Biwott and Uhuru Kenyatta.
According to the media, the meanest politicians who can 'never buy lunch' include John Michuki, Kivutha Kibwana, Joseph Munyao, William Ruto and vice president Moody Awori.
Meet the man who can give you a dream holiday safari in Kenya.
Just like we need a third mobile phone subscriber we need another media powerhouse.
ReplyDeleteIt's becoming increasingly clear that Standard is our version of the UK tabloid The Sun... while Nation is struggling to keep their stories straight (esp after the NMG letter - I hear there is another one in circulation - can this blogger hook us up?)...
So we need someone else to come around and really give us information as it really is on the ground.
Just a correction, Kamau Kanyanga was fired after he intercepted an edition being rolled to the streets after he wrote a story about Ajay Shah.
ReplyDeleteHe learnt about it late in the night and drove back to Likon Road and was unable to get the Rift Valley Edition that was already past Limuru.
However, he managed to stop the print and have two other editions, Coast and Nairob be re-prnited with a lead story of a court case involving an unkown personality as lead.
A correspondent working with the newspaper carried home the early copy and was equally fired for that.
Alberto Leny, fired last year was involved with Pattni as a gate-keeper for a long time.
Cheers
Raila Odinga can use as many journalists as he wishes and dump them the next day.
ReplyDeleteAlmost every Luo top reporter in the country has been used by the same man. If anyone reading this can remember the late Amos Onyatta, one of the best during his days at the Standard, was used and dumped after he fell off with the Standard management following union disoutes. Onyatta could not see Raila for ages after he left Likoni Road.
Then, there ws Ochieng Sino, who was also a known Raila man. The only man who could get Raila at any time of the day. After he left Daily Nation, Sino went to the People Daily and equally fell off with the management following the broken Raila-Matiba partnership.
He was to find his way to the Standard newsroom at the height of the Kanu-NDP cooperation.
This was engineered by Raila, whose wife Ida once worked for Mark Too, who was the Moi family pointman at the newspapers (Lonrho Group).
When Sino fell sick and was admitted at Nazareth Hospital, it took Luo leaders to persuade Raila to help him out and unfortunately, Sino went down as another statistic.
Now, there is Ben Agina, Dennis Onyango and Owino Opondo at the Nation.
The cycle goes on and on and on.
Use dump and use and dump.
Now, there is no Alberto Leny, but there is Kwendo Opanga who was MC at Raila's daughter's wedding.
In fact Kwendo, having admitted that he moonlighted for Kanu with his 'Luhya YK 92' crew, is a total disgrace to journalism and has no authority being where he is.
Have you asked why Ban Agina was invited and sat in the same tent as Kibaki during Isaiah Kabira's wedding.
ReplyDeleteWhere did Agina, formerly a photographer get money to buy a brand ew car for 750,000. Wjho finansed the lavish wedding. It was very expensive one of the few seen in Nairobi.
Anglo-Leasing. True, that is why he and Jimmy Wanjigi are close. and that is why his best friend Patrick Njiru is a top-operative. But now, he is looked at differently by the Raila Odinga camp, and the State House elite. He is looked at differently by the two camps. TRAITOR, OR SPY!!!!