Nation Media Exposed By Journalist Galava

Former Editor at Nation Media Group (NMG) has filed an explosive affidavit detailing events that led to his sacking after writing an editorial that strongly criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In the affidavit filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court on Monday, Dennis Galava reveals actions of senior managers at the media house that led to his dismissal.

According to Galava, the editorial which he wrote on January 1 had elicited sharp criticism from senior State House officials, who termed it as a declaration of war against the President pressuring the Nation's management to take action.

Galava says that NMG board chair Wilson Kiboro wrote to CEO Joe Muganda and Editor-in-Chief Tom Mshindi, demanding immediate action in order to appease the government.

Mr Galava goes ahead to blame the media house's management for his unceremonious suspension and dismissal, which was done through a phone call while he was off duty, claiming that he had not been given a chance to defend himself.

“I left office around midday to take my niece to school in Limuru. While on the road, the GME (group managing editor) Weekend editions called asking me to join him at the HR office urgently. I told him I was out of the office and he informed me I had been suspended over the editorial,” Galava says.

The journalist claims that when he was invited for a disciplinary hearing, he was occasionally accused of disrespecting the President and endangering company business by one of the panelists who warned him to be more cautious.

"The Editor-in-Chief said I had hurt him and risked company business. The Company Secretary added that it was the most disrespectful article on the Presidency he had ever read and I should be apologizing," he reveals.

The former editor makes public that last year, his seniors had ordered him to crush stories about NYS scandal, Eurobond and collapse of the coffee sector.

"He asked me to keep off the Kenyattas in the coffee stories, lay off the Eurobond saga and go slow on Jubilee's mega scandals," he states.

Galava further exposes Mshindi for trying to install him as a spy among his peers and seniors by appointing him as managing editor of Daily Nation, a position he would use to monitor and brief him (Mshindi) on contentious stories lined up, but he declined the offer.

In the case, Galava has also sued Mr Muganda for slanderous comments which he made during an interview with the BBC, a few days after he was suspended.

“In the BBC interview, Mr Muganda said I had been suspended for not following procedures and went ahead to compare me to a bank teller who steals cash. I am suing the CEO for defamation and damages over the interview,” he says.

Journalist Galava, who is seeking about Sh425 Million in compensation and damages, has sued NMG over wrongful dismissal for allegedly flouting editorial procedures, which he claims never existed, but were only drafted after he was fired in order to justify the action.

 

 

  • .