?? Raila's Stance on Ruto Resignation, Crisis Across 5 Kenyan Media Houses

By Derrick Kubasu

Hello and welcome to the Evening Brief Newsletter where it is hot 'n' cold on the political front, and definitely unsettling in the media.

1 Fun Thing: Follow the Kenyans.co.ke channel on WhatsApp here for more quizzes and quick news updates.

'Ruto Goes, Then What?'

After assessing the country's political formation, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga now wants President William Ruto to stay in power.

Kenyans.co.ke learned that the former PM made his candid stance over the political direction of government during a series of meetings within the opposition coalition, part of which was to restore unity after the opposition's break-up charter hit the media (both mainstream and social).

Addressing members of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Parliamentary Group, Odinga asserted that removing Ruto would only result in Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua assuming power and perpetuating the same detrimental policies.

What Raila Said: “Ruto goes, then what? Ruto may go then Gachagua takes over [to continue] implementing bad policies. Ruto can also say ‘I am tired, let the [military] generals take over. Then the country begins to go through what Egypt went through after Tahrir Square. ‘Ruto must go’ cannot be an end."

“It’s at times of crisis like this that a country needs to talk. We are not doing it to save Ruto. We are doing it to save Kenya. Generals don’t have teargas. They don’t have water cannons. They have bullets.”

The Rift: In recent weeks, especially since Raila and Ruto met at KICC, parties within the coalition have been reading from different scripts, with one wing denouncing the push for dialogue.

Yesterday, Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka addressed the public on resolutions that opposed joining the government. He was, however, disrupted.

Curiously, senior ODM leaders, including former governors Hassan Joho (Mombasa) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega), as well as Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna and Director of Political Affairs Junet Mohamed, did not accompany Musyoka to the presser, signaling further discord within the opposition ranks.

Azimio Official Position: Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, however, revealed that Azimio was opposed to dialogue and issued irreducible minimums to the President, failure to which they threatened to join the protests.

"We have had a series of meetings as members of Azimio at different levels and we may have been reading different scripts before the meetings that we had yesterday and today. The official position of Azimio is that we are not entering into any dialogue with UDA. We are not joining the government of William Ruto."

"We stand by the demands that have been put forward by Gen Zs and we have demands that we made that need to be addressed very quickly. We, in Jubilee, hold that if those demands are not met then what is left of us is just to join the Gen Zs in the demonstrations. One of the demands is these unnecessary abductions."

For now, Acting Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has banned protests in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) until further notice.

Watchdog in Crisis

Almost all major media outlets are weathering storms of a crisis, whether from within or without.

In the last half year, four media houses have embarked on retrenchment efforts as several companies' advertising wallets grow ever tighter.

The Crises: Lately, the Radio Africa Group, the parent company of the Star, Classic FM, and 5 other Radio Stations, will be reducing its staff through phased-out mass firings. It is determined to run on "leaner and efficient organization" noting. "Regrettably, this will necessitate some structural changes."

Standard Media, the parent of KTN, Standard Newspaper, and Spice FM, is currently under a mountain of debt unable to settle salary arrears of its staff dating back 7 months for some employees.

• Yesterday, I exclusively learnt that a section of its employees, more than 40, downed their tools and assembled at its grounds before visiting every office and removing everyone from their workstations, disrupting a live bulletin in the process. (Read my report here)

• Its efforts to run on a leaner team after firing staff members in September last year is yet to bear any fruits. Starting today, the Kenya Union of Journalists directed its members to protest until their arrears are paid in full.

Earlier this month, Nation Media Group, the parent of NTV, Business Daily and Daily Nation, announced that it will prioritise digital content, a move likely to result in job cuts. The group reported a loss of Ksh205.7 million for the full year of 2023, a stark contrast to the Ksh318.5 million profit in 2022.

• Talks are rife that NTV, the TV station, might be closed in due course.

At Mediamax, the Kenyatta Family-owned parent company to K24 TV, Kameme TV, and People Daily, correspondents have been revolting after going for months without salaries. They have on numerous occasions, with the help of KUJ, threatened to down tools.

• "The correspondents have been subjected to inhuman treatment and have lost their dignity due to inability to meet their financial obligations, yet they sweat every day to deliver stories to the newspaper for publication," KUJ said in a memo in March.

Protests Challenges

As newsroom challenges abound, Kenyan journalists have also faced challenges in their effort to cover the ongoing protests.

Today, the Kenya Editors' Guild (KEG) raised concerns over threats directed at journalists working for the Royal Media Services which owns Citizen TV. The journalists allegedly received the threatening messages through fliers. According to KEG, the anonymous individuals also threatened to storm the media house.

Hours later, the Media Owners Association issued four demands to the state to investigate cases of targeted attacks on journalists by the police as well as ensure safety and security of the reporters.

Yesterday, the KEG condemned the abductions and shootings of journalists and vowed to take action against the kidnapping of Nation Editor Macharia Gaitho at Karen Police Station.

Catch Up Quick: Several cases of journalists suffering in the hands of the police during the protests have been recorded in the past month that the youth took to the streets.

• On Tuesday, K24 TV journalist Catherine Wanjeri wa Kariuki was shot three times in the leg while covering the protests in Nakuru.?

• In Nairobi, police officers sprayed CNN photojournalist Fabien Muhire while he covered the protests in Nairobi CBD.

"We condemn the harassment of journalists covering the protests. We have, over and over again, witnessed police attack journalists with teargas canisters and dangerous chemicals and the destruction of equipment," KEG President Zubeida Kananu stated.

Here are five other stories we are keeping tabs on for you;

1. The Communications Authority vows to take action against media outlets not adhering to regulations when covering the Gen Z protests.
2. The government is set to miss out on its target of onboarding various services on the e-Citizen platform following the review of the 2024/2025 budget.
3. Raila Odinga vows to seal all the loopholes after youth invaded Kalonzo Musyoka's press briefing and ejected participants.
4. Kenyans seeking to register businesses left in limbo for several hours as business name search services remained unavailable on eCitizen.
5. SRC freezes salary review for all other public officers for the Financial Year 2024/2025 after the Finance Bill was shelved.

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This newsletter was written by Derrick Kubasu and edited by Brian Muuo.

Washington Mito contributed to the content.

Graphics prepared by Adongo Kyalo.