PRESS STATEMENT
JOINT ONE KENYA ALLIANCE (OKA) ON FABRICATED STORIES BY NATION NEWSPAPERS
Thursday 19, 2021
We, Principals in One Kenya Alliance (OKA) have read with utter shock the fake news being purveyed by Nation Newspapers regarding our regular meetings with President Uhuru Kenyatta. We condemn such gutter press reporting with the contempt it deserves.
Since we started holding consultative meetings with the President, Nation Newspapers have embarked on a crusade to fabricate their own facts of the meetings in favour of one invitee to the meetings and presidential aspirant. We regret that a reputable media house can choose to sink this low in publishing falsehoods.
As to whether this betrays the Media Code of Ethics that Nation Media Group subscribes to, should be a subject of concern to relevant media regulatory institutions.
Meanwhile, Kenyans deserve correct, factual, verifiable, attributable and balanced reporting of events and not fiction about manufactured events that didn’t take place; sanitised through the veneer of creative realities, deceptive facts, opaque shadowy sources and twisted logic.
We hereby state categorically that our visits to State House aren’t summons to browbeat us into supporting one candidate or the other, as the distorted Nation narratives suggest. These have been very cordial consultative meetings deliberating on national matters.
Indeed, yesterday’s meeting was one such conference where a new Covid-19 surge and containment measures were the subject of extensive discussion. No one asked or even suggested that we support anyone for anything.
We call upon news media and especially the print media to remain focused on reporting facts as they are and not what their wishes are. Indeed, it is a cardinal international media ethical rule that media houses can choose to support a candidate of their choice in elections. The only condition is that this must be made public.
If Nation Newspapers feel strongly about the candidature of any individual, we invite the media house to do the ethical and decent thing; publicly announce its decision to support that individual.
OKA PRINCIPALS
MOMBASA, KENYA
