Photo Of Raila Reading The Star Newspaper After Boycott

Azimio la Umoja coalition leader, Raila Odinga, has triggered an uproar across the Kenyan media industry by ordering his supporters to boycott The Star newspaper under Radio Africa Group.

Speaking during a media briefing on Tuesday, March 21, Raila accused the daily newspaper, alongside a local bank and a telco, of enabling the activities of the President William Ruto-led government and becoming enemies of Kenyans profiting from their hard labour.

"We call for the boycott of the telco, the bank, and Radio Africa Media particularly The Star Newspaper who have become enablers and facilitators of this brutal regime. These corporates have become the enemies of the people and are benefitting from the blood and tears of Kenyans," he stated.

The Star's response to Raila Odinga's boycott order to supporters. /FILE

Minutes after his presser, a past photo of him reading The Star newspaper onboard a private plane resurfaced as a section of journalists began slamming him for mobilising his supporters against the country's press.

"The opposition has been at the forefront of defending the media against attacks from the government. 

"It is therefore unfortunate to hear Raila Odinga tell his supporters to boycott Radio Africa Group, specifically The Star Newspaper. That's equally an affront on the media," NTV multimedia editor, Oliver Mathenge, who was formerly at Radio Africa group, tweeted.

"I'm not sure why Raila has asked his supporters to boycott RAG and specifically picked the Star. Clearly, that is the wrong battle he has chosen," Martin Wachira weighed in.

Raila's sentiments also drew the attention of the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) Secretary General Erick Oduor, who tweeted: "No Mr Odinga, you are wrong on this one. The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) is shocked beyond comfort by remarks made by Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader Raila Odinga, calling for the boycott of Radio Africa Group products, mainly the Star newspaper."

The Star chose a classy comeback by sharing the same photo of Raila reading a past copy of one of their newspapers, captioning "Smart People Read The Star".

Speaking during Azimio's mega rally in Migori County on Friday, March 10, Raila had announced his intention to red flag companies and products that should be boycotted by the coalition's supporters.

“Kenyans will exercise their sovereignty directly for example during mass action, picketing and boycott among others. For example, there's a local telco that is being misused by these people and our party leadership will issue a statement to urge you to boycott those products.

"We have said there are several companies that we know that are being misused by these people and we will tell you the companies to boycott, the foods not to eat, the newspapers not to read from, the radio station not to listen to. The boycott is coming," he revealed.

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka during the presser however moved to diffuse the uproar against the coalition by members of the Fourth Estate by reiterating Raila's praise for the media during their coverage of the protests.

"Boycotting does not mean taking action against the media. We respect the media and you saw during the conclusion of his statement expressing his gratitude to the media because you are part of this struggle...clear indication.

"There are maybe those who probably think that we don't have rights, we have a right to boycott...it's not to act in isolation or anything. What we are saying is fair reporting but if you take a position, then Kenyans also have a position to take in contrary opinion, not necessarily being in contravention of media freedom in which we believe, and as I said the struggle is actually even media-led," stated Kalonzo, further warning the newspaper to be impartial in their reporting.

This is however likely to add to the recent collisions between the media and politicians which began with Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot's remarks on Monday, March 6 expressing President Ruto's confidence in crushing the cartels in Kenya but fearing that he might struggle with two he termed as extremely powerful; the Kenyan banks and the Kenyan media.