4 Times Standard Group Has Made Headlines For Wrong Reasons in 2023

If there is any media house in Kenya that would want 2023 to go away now, it is the Standard Group Limited.

From mass firings to losing defamation cases, from journalists speaking out against its operations to the controversial exit of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Mombasa Road-based media house has seen it all, amidst financial woes affecting arguably the second biggest private media house in the country.

Viral Tea takes a look at four times Standard Group has made national headlines this year:

Losing Ksh9 Million Defamation Case Against CS Ababu Namwamba

The media house lost a defamation case worth Ksh9 million against Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba, who donated the entire proceedings to charity on Saturday, December 23.

The High Court had ruled that a story published against CS Namwamba by the Nairobian in 2018 defamed him and awarded him Ksh9 million as damages.

“Today, on my birthday, I donate the entirety of the Kshs 9 million to charity. As Ababu Namwamba Foundation (ANF) marks its 20th Anniversary, its Board of Trustees will receive the money to establish a revolving endowment fund to support fees for vulnerable students and to empower transformative youth initiatives,” Namwamba stated.

CS Namwamba at the same time stated that no amount of money would sufficiently restitute him and his family from the pain and public shame that was occasioned by the controversial weekly publication.

According to Namwamba, the Standard Group confessed to having published a story based on fake sources and believed the stories were true, only to later find out that the interviewees were imposters and the information was false.

“May the Ksh9 million awarded to me as damages serve as yet another stark lesson to journalists and the media to maintain fidelity to the straight and narrow of responsible reporting anchored on fact and not actuated by malice or recklessness,” Namwamba added.

Salary Crisis, Mass Firings Drawing Attention of Kenya Union Of Journalists (KUJ)

Viral Tea became the first digital media house to officially confirm rumours of alleged financial constraints at the century-old media house in 2022 which saw staff experience delays in receiving their monthly salaries.

Insiders at the Mombasa road-based media house told us on September 7, 2022, that they did not receive their dues for August, mostly packed with the general elections on Tuesday, August 9.

From four months to six months to even 10 months, the salary woes sparked a backlash from the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), which issued several ultimatums over the matter which saw arguably the largest haemorrhage of its staff through mass firings and exits, most of which to rival media houses.

"Children go to bed hungry and some have even dropped out of school because their parents are unable to meet their financial obligations as a result of the don’t care attitude that has been adopted by some media managers whose families feast on cheese for dinner and drink wine before going to bed in if I were to quote Karl Marx.

"The pain men and women in the media are feeling has been inflicted by delayed salaries as some have gone for 10 months without pay without any justification. Let me remind media owners that they are operating in a space where public trust is paramount and, therefore, they cannot hold other people to account if their own hands are not clean," KUJ Secretary-General Erick Oduor stated on Sunday, December 3.

It remains to be seen if Standard Group will conclusively address the salary issue in 2024, despite reportedly paying its staff their October arrears.

Ksh6.5 million defamation against Linda Okello

A story by the Nairobian newspaper, a subsidiary of the Standard Group Limited, published between May 16-22, 2014 with a picture of former traffic officer, Linda Okello, led to the media house being forced to pay her Ksh6.5 million in damages for injuring her image.

Documents from the High Court ruling made on Wednesday, August 23 and obtained by Viral Tea showed that Okello's suit against the Mombasa Road-based media house arose from the article which claimed that she would be the chief guest at a fundraising event and was expected to interact with Nairobi's biggest personalities.

The event was a charity event meant to raise funds to buy sanitary towels and underwear for poor girls, coming after the viral photo of her on duty wearing a seemingly tight skirt, considered immoral in her profession drew the wrath of her superiors at the police force.

The Nairobian newspaper quoted remarks by the brainchild of the project explaining that the organisers settled for Okello owing to her celebrity status that emerged as a result of the viral photo, thus drawing larger crowds to the fundraiser.

Standard Group however filed a defence denying Okello's claim and further stated that if the story was defamatory, which was denied, the same was published concerning a matter in which the public had a genuine interest.

The former cop added that as a result of the publication, she had resigned from the police force, adding that she could not be promoted.

The photograph and article depicted Okello negatively, causing her to miss out on promotions at work and to be shunned socially as she was considered a disgrace.

Orlando Lyomu

in June, the exit of Orlando Lyomu as Standard Group Limited's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) after five years at the media house was a messy affair.

Sources who told Viral Tea revealed that Lyomu's ouster was a result of boardroom wars at the media house over a financial crisis that led to a massive haemorrhage of staff including talented journalists, most of whom joined rival media houses.

In particular, the Standard Group had brought in a caretaker committee to spearhead financial operations at the century-old company. Amid squabbles within the board, the media house was also rumoured to be scouting for a Ksh2 billion investor to turn around its fortunes.

The conflict was alleged to have been triggered by two major shareholders in terms of the normal operations of Standard Group; one of them being the family of the late former president Daniel Arap Moi, regarding the direction the company would take with Lyomu still in charge.

At times, when scuffles ensued, the shareholders would meet to discuss strategy as well as agree on a plan, but this was not the case.

Their decision not to put money in the business was said to have been captured in confrontations which spread across the business which was struggling to meet its financial obligations for several months, leaving the company mandated to make strategic decisions to emerge from the financial deficiency.

He was appointed as Standard Group's CEO on May 25, 2018, replacing Sam Shollei who had resigned in September 2017. Lyomu was the Group’s Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer before his ascension to the top role.