Kiambu Gubernatorial candidate and Tujibebe party leader William Kabogo on Sunday, July 2 made sensational claims that NTV had blackmailed him after he declined to air his campaign ads at the station.
Kabogo read malice in an article and cartoon image shared by NTV's sister station - titled 'William Kabogo gets carried away by his Tujibebe.'
The former governor, without offering evidence, connected the editorial decision to the fact that he had recently received an invoice from NTV which had offered to run his campaign advertisement at a cost of Ksh371,000.
Kabogo further hit out at the media station, explaining that he withdrew his business because of their viewership numbers.
"NTV, is this is what you do when one refuses to do business with low-viewed TV?" the former Kiambu Governor questioned.
In the shared invoice, NTV had proposed selling airtime to the former Kiambu County governor and running his advertisements on their broadcast platforms.
The agreement showed the ads would be run for one week, starting July 1, but the Tujibebe party leader appeared to have had a change of heart along the way.
The accusations by the former county boss come amid concerns raised by the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) over the attacks on media houses by politicians.
Deputy President William Ruto and his campaign team have been particularly singled out for making statements that appear to threaten the freedom of the press.
The MCK noted that the DP and any other politician who has an issue with the professionalism of media houses and accredited journalists should follow the laid down complaints procedure as opposed to making public statements that threaten the profession.
At the same time, MCK CEO David Omwoyo urged the media to introspect and be conscious when their audiences complain about unbalanced coverage.
One of the steps that the industry has taken to avoid perceptions of bias is to have autonomy between the editorial departments that makes journalistic decisions and the business
“The transparency and the trust in the election process are about access to information and the integrity of that information, it is either that or not,” Omwoyo stated.
