Is Daily Nation's Senior Editor John Kamau at war with Governor Mwangi Wa Iria?

Mr John Kamau, Daily Nation Senior Editor. He has denied allegations that he is fighting Muranga Governor Mwangi Wa Iria's newly constructed ICU facility. 

By Allan Wanjiku 

Nation Media Group's senior editor John Kamau is on a warpath with Muranga Governor Mwangi Wa Iria over reasons only better known to him.

Multiple reports by correspondents from the Nation Media Group indicate that Mr Kamau has allegedly been using his influence as a senior editor to block Muranga ICU stories from being published by the Nation. 

Mr Kamau frantically tried to stop a story detailing about the completion of the ICU but he could not offer the reasons for his decision a move that shows how he is trying to ensure no story by the governor finds its way to Daily Nation. 

According to the sources, Mr Kamau, the quality officer has also been gagging some journalists based on their social media post and at one time, he went direct to the correspondent's inbox and accused him of praising the governor and demanded whether he could explain how much was used to construct the ICU.

He also hard pressed him to explain whether he had engaged with professionals over the quality of equipment at the facility and when a positive answer was given, Mr Kamau was never satisfied, he claimed those asked could never give an accurate answer as they were under Governor Mwangi Wa Iria.

On April 24, Mr Kamau took to his Twitter account to discredit the construction of the ICU and posted a photo of the unfinished building claiming that the county could have designed a better ICU and wondered the whereabouts of the County engineers. 

The post by John Kamau in his Twitter handle on a photo of unfinished ICU building in Muranga.

This is a move that could arouse his followers' emotions and incite them against the facility which was not nearly complete. 

A source told KK Online News that threats and intimidations forced Nation Media Group not to publish the ICU's dedication ceremony which was graced by Archbishop and a host of bishops after senior editors accused regional scribes of being pocketed by the governor. 

Mr Kamau is a senior reporter who, interestingly comes from Muranga and more interestingly, from Murarandia village a village that neighbours Mugoiri where Governor Mwangi Wa Iria and Water PS Joseph Irungu Wairagu comes from. 

Mr Kamau's sources of news, based on stories he writes, rages from Mr Wairagu, DCI George Kinoti and Interior Cs Fred Matiang'i. 

It is understood that Mr Wairagu has been embroiled in a frosty working relationship with Muranga Governor with their bad blood playing public in Muranga water woes. 

While Mr Wairagu has declared interests to vie for gubernatorial post in 2022, the governor has declared that he will have a say on who to succeed him and has also registered a political party, a move that has rubbed some powerful people in government in a wrong way.

Some forces are said to be in a move to tame the governor whose political star is rising on daily basis and spreading like the bush fire. 

Motivated to doing a balanced and a fair story, KK Online News reached out to Mr Kamau who denied all the allegations and claimed he was not in a smear campaign against the ICU.

"No, I have not been against the ICU, no not me," he said on a phone interview. 

When asked about his Twitter post and alleged intimidations to journalists, Mr Kamau also known as JK hanged up the phone interview. 

Our team sent him this message. "Hi Sir, Allan here again from KK Online News, you hanged up before responding to the issue of your post in Twitter about the ICU and the journalists intimidations on the same issue," a message that has not been responded when we were publishing this article

KIRINYAGA TO FORM COUNTY FOOD BANK COMMITTEE, GOVERNOR WAIGURU SAYS

By Simon Kahara

Kirinyaga Governor Ann Waiguru hands over food to an elderly in Kirinyaga County on May 7. She announced the formation of a Food Bank Committee to mobilize and coordinate food distribution to the vulnarable.  

 

Kirinyaga County has formed a County Food Bank Committee which will mobilize and coordinate the distribution of relief food to the needy, Goveror Ann Waiguru has announced.

The County boss announced that the committee will enable the well wishers in and outside the County to donate towards the kitty in bid to cushion the county’s vulnerable population who have been affected by the Covid-19 and the eldery.

Speaking on Thursday at Kangai and Njukiini Wards when she launched the relief  food distribution  to the vulnerable members of the community, the governor said her adminstration will work in partnership with the committee to feed the poor in Kirinyaga County.

The exercise kicked off on Thursday where about 500 elderly people benefitted from food stuff such as maize flour, rice, and cooking oil. They were also given face masks to protect themselves against the coronavirus.

The governor who was accompanied by the local leaders noted that the vulnerable in the county are suffering from the effects of coronavirus as well as the ongoing rains which have caused flooding in their farms a move she noted may lead to famine

“Though Kirinyaga County is a major food basket, many farmers have lost their crops due to flooding and this will lead to famine,” the County boss said.

She pointed out that the elderly have been hit hard by the effects of Covid-19 since many of them previously depended on their children who could have lost their incomes due to corona virus. 

The governor has been in the forefront in the fight against Coronavirus and has been engaged in spirited efforts to prevent her people from contracting the virus.

Governor Ann Waiguru fumigates Kagio market in Kirinyaga County to keep her people safe from CoronaVirus. She has been engaged in the fight against Covid-19

Among the measures being put in place is fumigation of markets and shopping centers, production of face masks a move that has also created job opportunities to the county residents among others.

 

Masks being produced by Governor Waiguru's administration to give to Kirinyaga people for free.

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MEDIA HOUSES HARASSSING MURANGA COUNTY JOURNALISTS OVER ICU STORY BY ALLAN WANJIKU

Muranga ICU Centre which was built in 19 days. Some county journalists are receiving threats by the bosses for writing and airing the story and giving Governor Mwangi Wa Iria publicity.

Some media houses have launched attacks, intimidations and harassments to their Muranga County journalists for covering the biggest ICU center in Kenya, which has been constructed and equipped in a record of 19 days.

The scribes have been receiving threatening messages and calls from some of their bosses accusing them of ‘praising Governor Mwangi Wa Iria’ for the ICU story while others have demanded answers from the innocent journalists on why they have been ‘overcovering’ the governor.

The worried scribes from two different media houses have shared with KK online News that they don’t know their fate as their bosses have been on their necks over the ICU facility saying they only carried their duties religiously without malice and favoritism.

They are now being accused of being pocketed by the governor to do stories that do not exist while the scribes maintain that they have visited the facility, touched the equipment and talked to proffessionals before filing their stories.

“We try as much to explain to them that the ICU facility is not a cooked story, it has been constructed from scratch but they hear none of this, we are living under harsh times and we don’t know what is happening,” the correspondents told the KK Online News.

What the innocent scribes do not understand is the fact that there are people behind their woes and are using senior editors in various media houses to block any positive story from the governor who has since declared that he will have a say in the governance of Muranga County in 2022 and that he will also be in the bargaining table for 2022 succession politics.

Last week, KK Online News wrote an exclusive story on a well-choreographed strategy https://kkonlinenews.blogspot.com/2020/04/leaked-how-top-government-officials-out.html?m=1      between some rogue media house editors and some powerful government officials to discredit the governor’s efforts in the construction of the ICU facility and other measures.

The plot is aimed at denying him the publicity from the locals since according to them, the publicity would continue giving him political mileage and built his political profile which they want to destroy.

While it is good for journalists to ensure only balanced stories are published, it is wrong unprofessional and uncouth for senior editors to misuse their powers by being used by the powers that be as their gate keepers and killing the careers of young visionary and aggressive journalists.

We shall continue uncovering the dirty machinations and evil schemes aimed at silencing and controlling county scribes by their bosses who ought to motivate them.

Even after celebrating the World Press Freedom Day other day, it is emerging that journalists enemies are their enemies and not even the State or other organs as has widely been thought.