State House has called out The Standard newspaper following a front-page story linking President William Ruto’s upcoming Mt. Kenya tour to the outlawed Mungiki sect.
The newspaper alleged that former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga was involved in mobilizing support for Ruto’s visit to the region.
However, in a statement on Monday, March 31, Head of Presidential Communication Service Munyori Buku denounced the story as false, accusing the publication of engaging in propaganda.
"The lead story in today's (Monday, March 31st) edition of 'The Standard' marks yet another descent into the bottomless tabloid abyss that the publication now appears so determined to inhabit. This latest installment 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 statement read.
Buku clarified that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki had engaged among others, security agencies, in the preparations to ensure the tour was properly organized.
Read More
"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.
"Had the newspaper exercised even the bare minimum of journalistic integrity, it would have discovered the cold, hard facts: That the President has held consultative meetings with regional governors and National Government officials to plan the visit; that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has similarly engaged Members of Parliament and Senators from the region in preparation; and 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," the statement added.
Buku also took issue with the newspaper’s reliance on anonymous sources, arguing that such tactics undermined professional journalism.
"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 this duly elected government,” the statement continued.
Buku warned that the publication would be held accountable not only by the institutions it has maligned but also by the public should it continue spreading misinformation.
"What The Standard has been engaged in is not journalism; it is gossip and innuendo masquerading as news, in rumours staged as fact, and desperation disguised as reporting. If the newspaper has chosen to weaponise 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 concluded.
Ruto is scheduled to commence a one-week tour of the Mt. Kenya region starting Tuesday, April 1, covering counties including Laikipia, Nyeri and Tharaka Nithi.
