Suna East MP Junet Mohamed has threatened to sue the Standard Media Group, accusing the publisher of running defamatory stories that damaged his reputation.
In a letter through his lawyers on Tuesday, January 6, the MP gave the media house a seven-day ultimatum to retract, apologise, and offer assurances against further publication.
The demand followed a series of articles published in the January 6 edition, which Junet said portrayed him in a damaging and false light across the front page and multiple inside pages.
"Our client has brought to our attention, scandalous, reckless and malicious publication of defamatory articles in your publication of 6th January 2026 in the Standard Newspaper, appearing on the front page and at pages 6, 7 and 8, reported by Irene Githinji, Edwin Nyarangi and Harold Odhiambo respectively wherein they described and portrayed our client as a 'traitor'," the letter read.
The lawyers argued that the meaning of the words used by the newspaper was to depict Junet as dishonest, politically disloyal, and morally unprincipled.
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"The natural and ordinary meaning of the words complained of is that our client is a traitor, dishonest individual, politically disloyal and morally unprincipled, and that he serves unnamed 'masters' rather than the public interest. The impugned words are plainly calculated to, and indeed do, lower our client's reputation in the estimation of right-thinking members of the society, expose him to public hatred, contempt and ridicule and further impute disloyalty and betrayal of constitutional duty," the letter added.
Junet noted that the allegations were not only inaccurate but were published with malicious intent to harm his standing in society.
The MP's legal team stressed that as Minority Leader, he held a senior constitutional office and that accusing him of treachery without lawful basis amounted to extreme character assassination.
"Our client is the Minority Leader in the National Assembly, a senior constitutional office holder whose role is central to parliamentary oversight, democratic accountability and the rule of law. To accuse the Minority Leader in the National Assembly of being a traitor without any lawful basis is not robust journalism or political critique, but an outright character assassination of the most egregious kind," the letter further read.
The lawyers also took issue with a separate article on page 6, saying it falsely portrayed Junet as a political agent who engaged in brokering activities before disappearing.
"These words falsely portray our client as a covert political agent, a dishonest broker, and a person engaged in shadowy dealings. The allegations are entirely fabricated, unsupported by facts, and published with reckless disregard for the truth," the letter continued.
Junet further addressed another article on page 8, which depicted him as an absentee and negligent Member of Parliament.
His lawyers argued that the prominence and repetition of the allegations across multiple pages demonstrated express malice and a disregard for journalistic and legal obligations.
"The deliberate decision to sensationalise the defamatory allegations on the front page, and to amplify the same across three additional pages, surely demonstrates express malice, aggravated recklessness and a blatant disregard for truth, accuracy and your legal obligations as a media house. Any belated attempt to disguise this as a political critique is untenable, dishonest and doomed to fail," the letter explained.
The lawyers noted that the publications had caused severe reputational and personal harm, and they demanded immediate corrective action from the media house.
"Your publication has caused severe reputational damage, personal distress, public hatred, contempt and ridicule, all of which are aggravated by the national circulation of your newspaper. In the circumstances, our Client hereby formally demands an immediate and unequivocal retraction of the defamatory publication on the front page as well as pages 6, 7 and 8 of the Standard Newspaper; a full and public apology in the Standard Newspaper and on all your digital platforms, with equal prominence to the offending articles; and a written undertaking that no further defamatory references, whether direct, implied or insinuated, shall be published concerning our client," the letter outlined.
Junet issued a warning that failure to meet the demands within a week would result in immediate legal action against the media house.
"Take notice that unless these demands are complied with within seven (7) days from the date hereof, we have firm instructions to commence legal proceedings against Standard Group Limited without further reference to you, seeking general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, permanent injunctive relief, and costs of the suit together with interest," the letter concluded.
Elsewhere, this came days after Junet was forced to defend himself following accusations by ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna that he had pocketed money meant to pay agents in the 2022 General Election.
Junet stated that the funds meant for election agents were not given to him or party structures but were instead released by former President Uhuru Kenyatta to his brother, Muhoho Kenyatta, who then appointed another individual to manage recruitment and payments.
"The answer is simple, clear and verifiable: Former President Uhuru Kenyatta released the funds meant for election agents to his blood brother, Muhoho Kenyatta. Muhoho Kenyatta then appointed one Mr. Peter Mburu to take charge of the recruitment and payment of agents," he claimed.
Junet also described how the handling of agents’ logistics was centralized in a highly restricted office, allegedly beyond the reach of most party leaders, including the late Raila Odinga.
He said the office was where decisions on agents’ payments and logistics were supposedly made.
"Around the time, Muhoho Kenyatta operated from an office in Westlands that was so restricted that even Raila Odinga, the party’s presidential candidate, could not access it freely.
"It is from this office - out of bounds for nearly all of us - that they claimed to handle the agents' payments and other logistics. These are facts, not conjecture. I challenge Uhuru Kenyatta and Muhoho Kenyatta to publicly deny these facts," he explained.
Junet went on to allege that despite taking control of the process, no agents were deployed for Raila in key regions.
"The fact is once they took charge, they never procured any agents for Hon. Raila Odinga, not in Mt. Kenya and not in Luo Nyanza. It was a long con game," he stated.
Junet called on all those named in the controversy, including Sifuna, to publicly account for their roles so Kenyans could judge who was responsible for ODM’s 2022 defeat.
