Why Crime Reporter Stephen Muiruri Was Forced To Resign

A guest writer offers a different and revealing view to the Muiruri case

I first met Stephen Muiruri in Machakos town where I had gone to 'chase' a follow up story on the accident that president Kibaki was involved in on December 8, 2002 on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway at the Machakos turn off popularly known as Makutano

He had also traveled from the city with a photographer and we met outside the offices of the traffic base commander where he was chatting with local correspondents and asking questions about the near fatal crash that almost killed the presidential aspirant who went on to occupy the highest office in the land.

When I learnt that this was the legendary crime reporter, Muiruri, I was shocked beyond belief. For starters, he spoke broken English with a heavy Kikuyu accent and was so full of himself that he did not notice that the local stringers were having a hard time in understanding what he was saying.

I was to learn later that he had gotten the job at the Nation through 'strings' pulled by the powerful editorial director Wangethi Mwangi who is now under intense pressure to resign over a sex scandal that has rocked the giant Aga Khan owned Media group. But again, that is another story.

When Muiruri tendered his resignation last week and wrote a long letter explaining the circumstances to colleagues (which leaked and was posted on the web), it came as no surprise to many who had been carefully following the "Muiruri" case as his departure was long overdue and could be part of the problem that has caused a lot of discontent among junior and senior graduate reporters who earned less than Muiruri in spite of their qualifications.

Lets give the devil his dues, Muiruri had impeccable sources and contacts and this enabled the Nation get exclusives including his last major scoop where he amazingly revealed the individuals who had been short-listed to take over from the former CID boss, Joseph Kamau.

Among the four candidates Muiruri talked about in his articles was Gatiba Karanja who was later appointed to the post, a fact that went down badly with police commissioner Hussein Ali who works closely with Wangethi Mwangi and NMG boss Linus Gitahi, this is according to Muiruri's resignation letter that was reproduced in this blog.

According to Muiruri's letter it is obvious that they were very good friends with the former CID director, Mr Kamau who intervened on his behalf when senior police officers wanted to acquire a police bonded vehicle that Muiruri's cousin had already paid for among two other cars that were put up for auction.

Muiruri was later accused by Wangethi and Gitahi of having been bribed by Kamau with a car. Muiruri's bosses at NMG also claimed that he was receiving cash from the CID boss from time to time to give him favorable coverage.

Considering the way Kamau and Muiruri worked together, the accusations were plausible although there was no shred of evidence. But again, bosses don’t need evidence when they are accusing their subordinates; talk of the saying that 'the boss is always right'

It seems that Police commissioner Ali may have put pressure on the Nation to get rid of "Kamau's man". More so when the commissioner is keen to control the flow of information to the media and what ultimately gets published as far as crime and security related stories are concerned. Although chances are that Mururi will carry his contacts with him to his next job, no other newspaper in the country has the kind of circulation and reach that the Nation has. The damage to Ali, if any, will therefore be minimal.

It is no secret that Muiruri's articles were badly written with grammatical errors but his stories were factual and in most cases very accurate. In many senior reporting position the world over, good writing is not the most important skill editor's seek, since there are sub-editors who often re-write many stories while keeping the facts intact. Muiruri's value was obviously evident in his investigative skills and excellent contacts. However it seems that the lad had outlived his time at NMG and what better time to force him out than now when a major shakeup is in progress amid the damaging sex scandal where the name of group managing editor, Joseph Odindo has also featured. Odindo is one of the most experienced and respected journalists in Kenya today.

NMG will not miss Muiruri all that much as sometime last year, another crime reporter, Dominic Wabala left the STANDARD and joined Nation and is already filling in for Muiruri. Wabala is experienced and a very seasoned crime reporter who also has his own impeccable sources of many years, not to mention his grasp for written and spoken English which is excellent.

This is not the last among the unceremonious exits from the Nation as the purge is in progress amid the imminent exposure of a sex scandal involving top editorial staff and their juniors in the newsroom in a sex-for-promotion scam that disgruntled employees have anonymously said they will expose details of on March 1. This blog is among those that the employees intend to use to expose the sleaze.

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