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.
Monday, February 05, 2007
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.
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.
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