Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria is on the receiving end after criticising Nation Media Group.
Kuria who was speaking on Sunday during the Akorino Annual Convention in Embu County, openly criticized the media house, demanding that it declare whether it is fulfilling its watchdog role or aligning itself with the opposition.
He also cautioned government agencies against advertising with Nation Media Group (NMG), warning that their funding could be jeopardized and their employees could face job losses.
Kuria accused the Nation Media Group, owned by His Highness the Aga Khan, and which operates NTV, Daily Nation, Nation Africa, and Nation FM, among other stations, of blurring the line between being a newspaper, a broadcasting house, a media station, and an opposition party.
He threatened to terminate the employment of any individual responsible for government agencies placing advertisements in NMG.
“Nation Media, I want you to decide if you are a broadcaster, print newspapers or an opposition party. I have said from today that any government agency that will advertise in Nation Media will be penalised,” Kuria said.
Kuria’s utterances came a day after the media company unearthed how Ruto’s close allies are believed to have pocketed about Sh6 billion in a flawed oil importation deal.
The agreement saw private firms import oil tax-free, then sell the commodity to a government agency at a higher price. Throughout these movements, massive wastage of cash happened.
The exposé showed how companies associated with the president’s insiders were single-sourced to procure oil for the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC).
The investigative piece indicated that Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and National Treasury applied the wrong law to approve importation.
A circular from the Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u to the KRA approving the duty-free importation was copied to Kuria and his Agriculture counterpart Mithika Linturi.
The Media Owners Association, the Editors Guild, and the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) have yet to respond to Kuria’s attack on Nation Media Group.
Here are some of the reactions from Kenyans to Kuria’s remarks
