Award-Winning Journalist Explains Being Barred From CS Owalo Event
Ochieng' revealed that he was drawn to Owalo's tweet congratulating K’Ogalo and announcing that he would host the team at the hotel for a luncheon
admin
It was a sour Monday, June 26 for two-time Kenyan sports journalist of the year, Stephen Ochieng', who was locked out of a press conference hosted by Eliud Owalo, the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, despite having a valid press card in his possession.
Ochieng', who is a journalist at digital sports website Mozzart Sport, took to Twitter to lament that he was barred from accessing the venue whereby CS Owalo was hosting the Gor Mahia football team, fresh from clinching their record-extending 20th FKF Premier League title the previous day.
"Sad day. Been thrown out of Gor Mahia's event at Ole Sereni where they are meeting with CS Eliud Owalo.
"Other 'big' media houses who we came with just walked in," he wrote in the post that went viral, viewed over 146,600 times with a count of 223 retweets, 30 quoted replies and 965 likes.
ICT CS, Eliud Owalo celebrating with Gor Mahia players during a luncheon at Ole Sereni hotel on June 26, 2023. /ELIUD OWALO
Where It All Began
In a blog post, Ochieng' revealed that he was drawn to Owalo's tweet congratulating K’Ogalo and announcing that he would host the team at the hotel for a luncheon, something he viewed as an opportunity to get fresh angles for stories.
"Everything felt normal. Taxi ride to the venue, a couple of hellos to the inspection guards at the entrance and the ground floor, stairs to the first floor, a long left across the restaurant, another left to the lift, joined by two colleagues from KBC, into the lift, up till fourth floor, exit lift, up ahead was the door to heaven.
"Manning the gates were two security guys holding the book of life with black written scribblings. Upon noticing my presence, one of them, without saying much, threw his head, with his ears turned, towards me," he narrated.
Ochieng' introduced himself to the security guards and stated the purpose of his visit, after which he was led to a higher authority alongside the KBC journalists. After stating their credentials and the media house they were attached to, he was dismayed after the authority allowed the KBC journalists to access the luncheon much to his expense.
“Wait a minute. Let me confirm and come back,” he said. In a minute, he reappeared. “KBC, nyinyi ingieni (go ahead). Mozzart, wewe (you), you cannot enter,” passing my judgement.
"Suddenly, things did not feel normal. For the first time. Having covered Gor Mahia for a good time to know the team and its members, I asked the angel if getting approval from some of its officials would be good enough to change the course of my fate and wash away my sins. He had no issues," he went on.
In response, Ochieng' reached out to K'Ogalo's club’s marketing liaison officer, team manager as well as the title-winning coach Johnathan McKinstry, all of whom informed him that the matter had been handed over to the CS’s team and message passed to anyone with a press card to be allowed in.
Losing Patience
To make matters worse, the higher authority urged him to go away from the area and following back and forth, the former called a police officer attached to the General Service Unit (GSU) who arrived alongside hotel security to lead him out of the premises.
Ochieng' waited outside the building for a sign of hope of a comeback, but none was forthcoming
"Perhaps if I came from the BBC or CNN, I would have had VIP treatment. But being from Mozzart Sport, a digital website, did not go down too well with the personnel from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy.
"Perhaps the CS is in an unrequited relationship with Digital Economy. But even human beings grow. From toddlers who are entirely dependent to adults who go on to disrespect the very parents or guardians who brought them up," he lamented.
The Aftermath
Ochieng', when reached out to by Viral Tea, expressed his shock and disappointment over the matter, which led to widespread condemnation of the matter from his colleagues who stood by him.
He is a two-time award-winning journalist who in 2023 won the Sports Reporting Digital award during the Annual Journalism Excellence Awards 2023 Ceremony held at Safari Park in Nairobi on Thursday, May 5, alongside 55 others.
The sports journalist's ordeal exposed the lack of awareness in terms of digital native media houses that produce high-quality content similar to their mainstream counterparts on a daily basis but are still sidelined in favour of mainstream media in scenarios such as press conferences.
Neither officials from Gor Mahia nor their sponsors responded to our calls by the time of publishing this story. Additionally, the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), to which Ochieng's press card came from, was yet to issue an official comment on the matter.
