A top television in the country has faced a backlash from MCSK CEO Ezekiel Mutua following its report on the death of a Catholic priest that occurred at a lodging in the Gatanga sub-county.
The 43-year-old priest Joseph Kariuki Wanjiru was in the company of a lady who is alleged to be his lover.
The incident went viral in Kenya with major media houses featuring it as an item for the prime-time bulletin.
However, one of the news items which dubbed its story as "Nzi afia Kidondani", which translates to "fly dies in the wound", appeared to have harangued Mutua.
"One of the most sickening and callous headlines I have ever seen in the news was "Nzi afia kidondani" on one of the leading TV stations at 7 pm yesterday. It was referring to the death of a Catholic priest in Nyeri. This is heartless, insensitive and unprofessional on another level," he said on Facebook.
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According to Mutua, it is wrong to judge and mock the dead considering that he has close relatives who will suffer the most from such kind of reporting.
"You can't mock a dead person that way no matter the circumstances surrounding his death. It wouldn't have been any better if he died in an accident," he said.
"He is human, deserving of respect. He has relatives and friends who are mourning him. To stoop that low in the name of creating a headline is the work of a sick mind."
Mutua has now appealed to the Media Council of Kenya to take up the matter immediately and address it.
At the same time, he has asked the TV station, which he did not mention by name, to apologise to Kenyans.
