Digital Strategist Dennis Itumbi picked up a fight with K24 presenter Anne Kiguta, accusing her of bias and prejudice towards Deputy President William Ruto in a daring exposé.
Itumbi, through his social media pages on Tuesday, April 21, alleged that her show, Punchline, was being used by political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi to attack Ruto.
The former State House employee opined that in as much as the station had a right to chose a side in a political contest, it also had to maintain public trust.
"It is acceptable for a media station to support one side in a political contest and to oppose anyone they wish, for whatever reason.
"However, because TV stations are allocated public frequencies in trust by the people, that station must declare whichever side they oppose or support. That is what we term as objectivity. Media owners own the naming and branding of newsrooms, but the people of Kenya own the frequencies," Itumbi stated.
Itumbi claimed that Mutahi Ngunyi was involved in scripting Kiguta's show on Sunday, April 19, and even directed the guests who attended the show.
"On Sunday, April 19, Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi, scripted an entire show for your station and declared that DP William Ruto will not be president. He did not stop there, he said President Uhuru is the Biblical Saul and DP Ruto is David. This bit was very interesting. We all know despite Saul's intention to kill David, David the shepherd beat Goliath and eventually became king.
"But that is not the point. Anne Kiguta of Punchline was used to voice a K24 opinion on a political contest authored by a man who is not a reporter, editor or declared employee of the station. I will, therefore, assume he (Ngunyi) is the media owner because he even went ahead to invite the guests who were interviewed for the show," Itumbi lamented.
Itumbi escalated his rant by poking holes at Kiguta accusing her of allowing her show to be used as a pawn in a political contest.
"So now that you are no longer objective, do the bold thing and declare your stand as a station. Do not worry, we already know your editorial stance and the hustler nation will treat you as such. We, however, know almost all your reporters, anchors, editors are believers in the hustler nation and like Citizen TV who took similar positions before you - we will continue to respect their hustle.
"Anne Kiguta betrayed journalism by purporting to own the script of Punchline when it is clear she was a pawn in a game scripted by Mutahi - who merely represents a group of people who think they own our vote. A group of people who now have been allowed to pass their messages through K24," Itumbi claimed.
Efforts to reach Anne Kiguta and K24 management for comment were futile as none responded.
