The government has slammed the Standard newspaper's Monday 31, publication that ran a headline associating President William Ruto's trip to Mt Kenya, that is set to begin tomorrow with activities of the outlawed Mungiki sect.
In a heavy-worded statement by the Head of the Presidential Communication Service Munyoru Buku, the government slammed the Standard, stating that its recent headlines mark a 'descent into the bottomless tabloid abyss.'
''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,'' the statement read in part.
The statement added: ''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.''
According to the government, the claim that a proscribed group is involved in planning the President's tour of the Mt Kenya region this week is not only false, but it is also dangerously irresponsible and inciteful.
The government has refuted the claim that it was using the outlawed group to organise the President's trip in the region.
It further hit at the Standard Group for failing to exercise a minimum of journalistic integrity to establish that senior government officials were the ones involved in the planning.
''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,'' the statement added.
''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.''
Furthermore, the government has accused the Mombasa Road-based publication of failing to seek a comment from the Presidency before running its story.
''Instead, The Standard clings to its favorite 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, all in a bid to stir contrived public anger against the duly elected government.''
The statement went further to accuse the newspaper of abandoning journalistic integrity for sensationalism.
''What The Standard has been engaged in is not journalism; it is gossip and innuendo masquerading as news, rumor staged as fact, and desperation disguised as reporting. If the newspaper has chosen to weaponize misinformation to prop up its waning relevance, it should prepare to be held accountable—not only by the institutions it maligns but also by the public and the fast-disappearing readership whose trust it so carelessly continues to betray.''
The statement came after the publication claimed that there were reports of former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga's involvement in mobilisation efforts ahead of Ruto's tour.
