Ruto's Team Declares War On Kenyan Media

Deputy President William Ruto's campaign secretariat has come out guns blazing against the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) over a recent report that revealed that a majority of journalists feel safer and more comfortable working with Raila Odinga’s Azimio La Umoja Coalition than the Kenya Kwanza coalition.

Speaking on Friday, July 15 at the William Samoei Ruto (WSR) Command Centre in Westlands, Nairobi, WSR Presidential Secretariat Director of Communications, Hussein Mohamed accused the MCK of being biased in its report, noting that it did not disclose data to support their findings.

He further advised the media to ensure that they regulate the media environment, noting that a section of the report which exposed the removal of journalists from Ruto’s functions including during the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) National Delegates Conference was a misinterpretation.

Former Citizen TV anchor Hussein Mohamed. /FILE

"Two days ago the MCK issued a statement, this time however without any report or statistics trying to say the numbers have changed. In the obsession with polls, the MCK goes ahead to even tell us that they have done a poll about journalists and which campaigns they would like to cover.

"Really? I mean, is that the work you are supposed to do? All they have to do is to ensure compliance. They say journalists are not comfortable with Kenya Kwanza trying to quote something that happened in the NDC which was a misunderstanding," Hussein addressed.

The former Citizen TV anchor then revisited an incident on March 24, 2022, whereby security officials at Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) headquarters assaulted two journalists at a function attended by Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga, which drew angry reactions from the MCK.

He called upon media stakeholders ranging from journalists to media houses and media owners to do their duty properly as it is for the good of members of the public.

"The same MCK and Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) complained when my colleagues, Moses Nyamori from The Standard and Luke Awich from The Star, were actually assaulted at the ODM headquarters. Are they being fair?

"All we want them to do is ensure objectivity. We have been in the media, we are still journalists and we are asking our colleagues, especially the media companies and owners, we are not saying you must cover us. We are saying this is public information, you're doing this for the public good," he said.

He further asked the MCK to provide to the secretariat reports regarding any new data dealing with coverage of the two heavyweight coalitions.

"If you have decided to give one side more coverage then please tell the viewers what you are doing than trying to say you are objective and you're not and the data and statistics show you are not. If the MCK wants to talk about new data please show us the report, don't just quote a statement and there's no report," he said.

Regarding the presidential debates next week and on Tuesday, July 26, two weeks before the August 9 general elections, Hussein maintained that the candidates will be the ones to decide whether to attend the debates or not.

On her part, UDA Secretary General, Veronica Maina noted that the party also did their own research on the coverage of both coalitions and would release its report in the future.

"We are doing heavy monitoring from this centre and on day to day basis to tell how many minutes each coalition is getting so that we do not make allegations without data. We hope the journalists themselves can do the right thing in the remaining days," she said.

MCK, in its latest media monitoring report on Wednesday, July 13, revealed that a survey to gauge the perception of media and journalists towards the presidential candidates showed that 49 per cent feel safer working with Raila while Ruto received 31 per cent backing. Only 17 per cent felt comfortable covering Roots party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah.