The Emman Omari and George Saitoti Saga: How Politicians Control The Media

From the days professor George Saitoti left the university and joined politics at the behest of former president Moi, there was one journalist that the former statistics lecturer was fond of and they struck a friendship which has lasted almost two decades.

Emman Omari was already an experienced journalist when Saitoti joined politics. The latter did not hesitate to advice him on how the media works and how best to get good coverage in the murky world of politics, for a price of course.

The two got so close that there was a time that Saitoti could not speak in parliament if Omari was not in the press gallery to record his contribution. By then Omari was the Nation newspapers parliamentary reporter, a position he served in for many years.

If you peruse old copies of the paper and read Saitoti stories written by Omari , you will notice almost if not all of them paint a rosy picture of the man who has been implicated in the multi million Goldenberg scandal.

While he was vice president, Omari wrote that it was rather obvious that Saitoti would be Moi's heir and that it was just a matter of time before the Kajiado North MP would find his way to State house. No doubt Omari also pictured what that would mean for him and chances are high that he would have been appointed to head the Saitoti Presidential press unit.

What Omari always avoided talking about was the question of Saitoti's ethnicity considering that he was a Kikuyu by tribe but had changed his name to Maasai and was representing Kajiado North constituency which is pre-dominantly Maasai.

This way, Omari almost convinced his readers and to a wider extent millions of Kenyans that Saitoti was a Maasai and never told Kenyans that the other names of the immensely wealthy politician are Kinuthia Muthengi.

Almost all stories on Saitoti covered in the Nation have been written by non other than Omari who is now the Nation political editor but on his way out due to the age factor. During a recent stormy meeting at the media house, which has been at the center of a controversial sex scandal exposed in the wake of a major downsizing operation, a young journalist demanded that Omari be shown the door in the current purge and downsizing exercise since he had already long passed his retirement age.

But one day something went terribly wrong in the Saitoti-Omari relationship. The two bossom buddies squared it out in public when Omari wrote what Saitoti viewed as a very negative story (what would you expect after years of nothing but positive articles?) The story indirectly implied that Saitoti was a thief of public funds through his links with the Goldenberg scandal.

During a function in Kajiado, Saitoti pointed at Omari and told his mother that before them was the thankless young man he had done so much for yet he was now calling him a thief in the newspapers.

Omari was so embarrassed that he left the function before it was over but he later mended fences with the Kajiado politician who is known for his brazen temper and vulgar answers when dealing with cheeky journalists.

Saitoti is also said to have bought a car for Omari several years ago besides giving him thousands of shillings every month to supplement his income clear evidence that Omari was not only working for the nation, but was also Goerge Saitoti's public relations man.

What I keep on asking myself is, will the professor keep on taking calls from Omari when he retires or will he recruit another young and promising journalist to replace Omari and forget what the older man did for him for more than a decade since they are services which he paid for in full?

Meet the man who can give you a dream holiday safari in Kenya.