State House Bashes Standard Newspaper Over 'Mungiki' Story

With President William Ruto's tour of the Mt Kenya region set to begin on Tuesday, April 1, State House has released an emotionally charged statement against The Standard newspaper over its headline story on Monday, March 31, touching on activities of the outlawed Mungiki sect.

Head of the Presidential Communication Service (PCS) Munyori Buku became the latest government official to criticise the century-old newspaper's recent headlines, stating that the lead story "marks yet another descent into the bottomless tabloid abyss that the publication now appears so determined to inhabit."

"This latest instalment in its campaign of reckless sensationalism, flagrant hostility, and thinly veiled propaganda is not only anchored on tenuous, shaky conjecture but also laced with outright falsehoods, all seemingly orchestrated to prop up a publication beleaguered by thinning circulation, plummeting readership, and chronic commercial stagnation," the heavy-worded statement read in part.

"The outrageous, outlandish claim that a proscribed group is involved in planning the President's tour of the Mt Kenya region this week is not only manifestly false, but it is also dangerously irresponsible, reckless and inciteful."

President William Ruto (ahead) with his Deputy Kithure Kindiki at State House, Nairobi during the launch of the Shirika Plan on March 28, 2025. /PCS

According to Buku, the newspaper did not exercise the bare minimum of journalistic integrity, which, in his view, would have revealed the cold, hard facts.

He revealed in clarification that the President has held consultative meetings with regional governors and National Government officials to plan the visit to the Mt Kenya region and that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has similarly engaged Members of Parliament and Senators from the region in preparation. 

Buku also disclosed that the local leadership, security agencies, and communities are more than capable of coordinating a presidential tour without resorting to the involvement of nefarious groups.

"Instead, 'The Standard' clings to its favourite tools: Unnamed sources, imaginary claims, and shadowy insinuations; the telltale signs of journalism in free fall. The use of phantom informants, conveniently vague and unverifiable, exposes a newsroom more committed to concocting fiction than reporting facts to perpetuate contrived public anger against the duly elected government," he ranted further.

He further accused The Standard of not seeking a comment from the Presidency, a fundamental tenet of responsible reporting, terming this "an act of pure contempt for the principles of credible journalism."

"But this is hardly surprising from a publication that knows too well that a fabricated story collapses the moment it is subjected to the slightest of scrutiny. What 'The Standard' has been engaged in is not journalism; it is gossip and innuendo masquerading as news, rumour staged as fact, and desperation disguised as reporting," he went on.

Buku warned that "If the newspaper has chosen to weaponize misinformation to prop up its waning relevance, it should prepare to be held to account not only by the institutions it maligns, but also by the public and even the fast disappearing readership whose trust it so carelessly continues to betray."

The statement came after the newspaper reported that former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga emerged as an unlikely figure at the center of preparations for the President’s arrival at the Mt Kenya region.

"The Standard has learned that for the better part of Sunday, Njenga’s followers gathered at a house in Ruai to plan for Ruto’s visit, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow. Their task includes cheering the President at public rallies and preventing critics from engaging in anti-Ruto chants, which have characterised some of his public events.

"This is intended to create the impression that Ruto’s political relationship with Mt Kenya remains strong and that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua does not hold sway in the region. Although we could not reach Njenga for comment, his close associates confided in The Standard that more than 200 representatives of his followers attended the meeting, which began at 6 am to strategize on how to welcome and “protect” the President from detractors," the publication reported in part.