CS Kuria Threatens To Expose Nation Journalists Forced To Write Stories Against Ruto

Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria on Monday, June 19 took his war against the Nation Media Group (NMG) to a new level hours after NTV news anchor, Smriti Vidyarthi in her memo tore him apart in the 9 pm news bulletin over his sustained attacks against the media house.

The CS took to Twitter at exactly 11.16 pm to announce that he would on Tuesday, June 20 make public a list of Nation Media journalists forced to write stories against President William Ruto's administration.

While assuring that there were still members of the fourth estate committed to telling the truth, he claimed that the stories were coined by the editors of the Twin Towers, Nairobi-based media house and its bosses in a scheme he claimed was bankrolled by a former Head of State he did not name.

"Tomorrow I publish a list of Nation Media Group writers who have confessed to being coerced to write anti-government stories by their editors and management in a scheme sponsored by a former President. We still have honest people in the Media," the CS tweeted.

Tonight, The Memo is a defence of media freedom and a call to basic good manners.

This memo is about one Moses Kuria, the CS for Investment, Trade and Industry, who, in most civilised societies, should have resigned.

The media does not operate at Kuria's pleasure.#NTVTonight pic.twitter.com/58lFY1M5fM — NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) June 19, 2023

Two hours prior, Vidyarthi in a strong statement called out Kuria for using street insults and unprintable expletives against the media house and its principal shareholder over a report that claimed that Ksh6 billion in oil funds were abused through botched tenders issued by the Trade and Agriculture ministries, funds which belonged to the taxpayer.

Weighing in on statements issued by the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), the Kenya Editors' Guild (KEG) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) condemning the CS's remarks, Vidyarthi slammed Kuria for alleged attempts to abrogate Chapter Four of the Bill of Rights, particularly the freedom of the press.

"The Kenya Union of Journalists has called the CS a symbol of national shame. And he is. How else can you explain his constant thoughtless outburst? Remarks against an institution whose freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution, no less. Our concern tonight is not the fact that the CS is raving mad on social media or that he shamelessly lost his cool at a public event.

"He could keep doing that if he doesn't respect the lofty position he holds. But it is his temerity to threaten a media organization in present-day Kenya that is baffling. His purported blanket injunction on government departments seeking to advertise on NMG platforms is a height of arrogance and the mark of a public official drunk with power," she stated.

The experienced news anchor reiterated EACC's statement that the CS that he has no authority to purport to influence or control the award of government tenders.

"The CS must be reminded tonight that the media as an institution predates his short political career and will outlast his fleeting ministerial job by many generations.

"Further, the freedom that the media enjoys in Kenya is the product of a long struggle for which many Kenyans paid with their lives. The media, therefore, does not operate at his pleasure, and its freedom is not his to give," she added.

Though she commended Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for opposing Kuria's threats to fire government officials who would be found placing adverts in the Nation Media Group, Vidyarthi implored the second-in-command and President William Ruto to take the extra step and take action against the CS.

For the better part of Monday, Kuria fired tweet after tweet attempting to damage the reputation and credibility of the NMG, to the point of even sharing a screenshot of the real-time highlights at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), showing the media house among the top losers.

Minutes later, he shared a photo of a tender notice advertised on Monday’s Daily Nation by the Kenya Coast National Polytechnic, writing “Daily Nation Page 15. Not good.”

MCK, KUJ, KEG, the Media Owners Association (MOA), the Political Journalists Association of Kenya (PJAK) and the Crime Journalists Association of Kenya (CJAK) all issued statements condemning the CS's attacks on the media.

Among the allies who sided with Kuria was ICT Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dennis Itumbi who in a tweet at 10.52 pm claimed to have evidence of a journalist attached to NMG indicating that editors at the media house only wanted negative stories.

"They even ignored a chart, shared by KNTC CEO, Pamela Mutua, showing how edible oils prices have come down. The only scandal on this matter exists only in the NMG newsroom, not in reality.

"But NMG has a right to be biased. So does Kuria who has a right to hand them feedback about their slanted stuff that they wrongly call journalism," Itumbi wrote.