Politicians allied to the government, have lauded the new direction The Standard newspaper is taking, purporting that it has softened its blows towards the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Led by Narok County Senator Ledama Ole Kina and Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma, the politicians alleged that the popular daily, known for its jabs at President William Ruto and his allies over recent months, had abstained from doing so in the latest issues.
This comes just days after Gideon Moi, KANU party leader and former Baringo senator, whose family owns the media house, met Ruto and agreed to shelve his ambitions to regain the seat in the upcoming by-elections.
When Ruto accompanied Gideon Moi to Kabarak, he revealed that KANU would be joining the broad-based government.
On Friday, October 10, Senator Ole Kina took to social media expressing enthusiasm at seeing the October 10 issue of the paper, just a day after the allegations.
"Was waiting to read The Standard headlines today… and wow, looks like the Damascus light got to them—total Saul-to-Paul moment," Ole Kina stated on social media.
Kaluma, on the other hand, highlighted the Saturday Standard of October 11 headline, "Sh10.5b Tree Ploy" in which it alluded that Ruto's ambitious 15 billion was fast-withering due to the expenses required.
"Have you seen how The Standard has become objective of late! Let Citizen TV and NTV also reform and start publishing the successes of the Broad-Based Government," Kaluma stated.
The Friday, issue cited by Ole Kina had covered the ongoing lectures strike in a front page headline dubbed, "University Crisis".
Although it did not mention President William Ruto or any of his allies by name, the story highlighted the plight of public universities as the strike entered its second month due to an unresolved collective bargaining agreement between the dons and the government.
Hard-Hitting Headlines
In the past few months, the newspaper had become synonymous with hard-hitting and punchy headlines directed to the President and his allies including his Deputy Kithure Kindiki, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and top security bosses in the country.
Among these hard-hitting headlines included ones featuring Ruto like, "Lying President?" , "Big Man Syndrome", "Repressive Regime" and "Ruthless President", at the height of Kenyans dissatisfaction with Ruto's regime.
DP Kindiki and PCS Mudavadi were dubbed as "Mere Flower Girls" in another headline in March, suggesting the two had no power in the administration despite their high-ranking positions. Kindiki was also dubbed as "Mr 'Yes Sir' DP" in another issue.
After signing a pact with Ruto's UDA party, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party Leader Raila was also found himself featured on the paper's headline which read "Our Turn to Eat".
As police brutality ravaged the country in June and July, the paper went for the National Police Service Leadership, including Inspector General Douglas Kanja, his Deputy Eliud Lagat and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Mohamed Amin, with one issue stating in a headline "Blood on Their Hands".
Cabinet Secretaries were also not spared with Health CS Aden Duale featuring on two consecutive days after a multi-billion Social Health Authority (SHA) scandal was exposed in August.
As such, the paper became popular with Ruto critics, something most believe might have been compromised with the new agreement between Ruto and the the KANU boss, as the Moi Family owns the Mombasa Road-based media house.
