Macharia Kamau Blasts New York Times Over 'Woefully Biased' Reporting

Kenya's outgoing Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Macharia Kamau, has hit out at the New York Times and the Financial times over what he termed 'horribly negative, woefully biased and sadly misguiding ' reporting on Kenya.

In his last address as Permanent Representative before he fully takes up the role of Principal Secretary in the Foreign Affairs ministry, Kamau noted that though Kenya featured prominently in the publications, the stories were seriously flawed.

"I’m not sure why Kenya gets so much print in these two newspapers, disproportionate I am sure to it’s size and significance, but whatever the motivation, I have drawn the conclusion that it’s not intended to be positive or uplifting to the country or it’s people," he stated on Monday.

He explained that the stories had led people to wrongly conclude that Kenya is 'socially and politically a tragic and dangerous place, the least safe of its woeful and compromised neighbours, of which comparatively little if anything is written about'.

Kamau stated that he read the New York Times and the Financial Times every morning and had grown accustomed to their reporting on the country.

[caption caption="Macharia Kamau as he was being vetted for the position of Foreign Affairs PS"][/caption]

He made it clear that he did not expect the Times editors to believe his allegations that their publication's reporting on Kenya was compromised.

The career diplomat, however, noted that he hoped the paper could undertake an audit of it's editorial position on Kenya.

He specifically cited a January 15th story in the New York Times that was written by Jina Moore.

"But I thought I should say my bit anyway in hoes that they might indeed carry out an audit of their stories on the country and maybe even revisit their editorial position on Kenya, a position that I believe is serving a master other than servant journalism, without fear or favour," Kamau's statement read in part.

He concluded by disclosing that he had enjoyed his time in New York and the city's culture.

[caption caption="Macharia Kamau at a past convention"][/caption]