Ruto defends CS Kuria amid uproar over attack on media

President William Ruto has come to the defence of Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria over his recent utterances against the media, asking the press to simply swallow a bitter pill.

Speaking in Naivasha, when he flagged off the 2023 WRC Safari Rally on Wednesday, the Head of State said in as much as it was right for the media to call out Kuria, it was also his right and that of like-minded Kenyans to attack the press anytime they are in the wrong.

“We must defend the media, the free media. We must defend their right to criticize, to say whatever they want to say even to write propaganda, even to say the wrong things. We must defend that right.”

“We must also defend the right of those who hold the media to account. When the media goes rogue we must also defend the rights of people like Moses Kuria to speak their mind the same way we are defending the media to say all the things they want to say including the wrong ones,” President Ruto said.

Ruto, who appeared unperturbed by Kuria’s shameful utterances, said every person must enjoy their rights and freedoms without being intimidated.

“I say one journalist saying the President should defend us from Moses Kuria…that’s fine, I will do my bit. But I want to ask them, who is going to defend me from rogue media? Because I go through hell all the time. We need a fair balance,” he added.

“If they are feeling pain about what others say about them, it should tell them that there are people who feel pain when they write falsehoods about others. I hope this enables us to calibrate what we say either way. The central aspect of this is that we must always know that we have a country called Kenya where we all belong and must defend.”

The sentiments by President Ruto come even after Kuria stated that he will not apologize for his attacks on the media.

CS Kuria said on Wednesday that he has always been pro-media and has even interacted with media houses, having owned one.

He also cited a quote from Thomas Baldwin’s ‘The Prerogative of the Harlot,’ which he compared to ‘how the media operates in opposition to what true journalism is’.

“I am not apologizing and I have been a media owner before. I have been a writer in your newspapers and all that before,” CS Kuria stated.

“There is nobody who is pro-media more than me but I know the difference between media and what Thomas Baldwin called the prerogative of the harlot; the exercise of power without responsibility.”

However, in a clear show of contradiction, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi distanced the government from Kuria’s attack on the media.

He said if someone feels aggrieved, they should criticize and object but using vile language is not an option.

Mudavadi said Kenya must always have vibrant and free media as per the Constitution.

“The government is committed to a free, vibrant, and objective media and we are not running away from that. There is a thin line between a public official and someone in their private capacity.”

“My advice to my colleagues in public space is that be careful in the statements that you make because they may be personal statements but because of your status in society, they could give the impression that it is public policy, which is not,” he said.

The Prime CS further warned his colleagues that even though they are free to raise their objections, they should not be in vile language.

Kuria launched an attack on the Nation Media Group over the weekend following an expose by NTV that touched on the conduct of Cabinet Secretaries.

The TV station alleged in its report that Cabinet secretaries engineered a drop in the prices of edible oils resulting in the loss of taxpayer money to the tune of about Sh5.6 billion.

Kuria threatened the media organization using unprintable words and issued a threat to state agencies against running adverts with the media organization.

Media stakeholders condemn Kuria’s utterances

Media stakeholders such as the Kenya Editors Guild, and Kenya Union of Journalists condemned CS Kuria saying his actions and utterances should promote a positive image of Kenya as a nation.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission rubbished Kuria’s threats that he will sack any state official who would dare place government adverts with the media organization.

In a statement, EACC Chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak said no public institution or public official should be victimized for engaging in any lawful dealings with any organization, including in the award of tenders.

On Monday, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua also distanced the government from Kuria’s remarks, saying the government will allow the media to work freely although they won’t hesitate to call it out should it go overboard.

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