Wanga Wants Media Council to Act Against KTN and Standard Over Homa Bay Coverage

Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga has taken a strong stance against two major media outlets, demanding they face action from the Media Council of Kenya over their reporting of the violence that occurred in Homa Bay on August 16 this year. The governor has formally lodged complaints against KTN and The Standard newspaper, accusing them of publishing stories that were not just inaccurate, but also deliberately misleading about events during the Linda Mwananchi rally.

According to the governor, both news outlets aired their reports without doing the basic work that any serious journalist should do. KTN broadcast the story on September 6, while The Standard published theirs the following day, September 7. Wanga says the reports went ahead without proper verification of the allegations they contained, and more seriously, without giving her office adequate opportunity to respond to the accusations being made.

The controversy centres around how the media handled a story about what happened when Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and other political leaders visited the county for the Linda Mwananchi rally. An investigative piece by The Standard examined events and chaos that unfolded during the visit, and included allegations about a network of people who allegedly organized the violence that occurred. According to the reports, some sources claimed there had been coordination meetings before the rally, where people allegedly got assurances of protection and political backing.

However, Wanga’s beef is not with the idea of media scrutiny. She has said clearly that she welcomes accountability and public discussion about serious matters. What bothers her, she explained, is that the two media houses presented information that was unverified and highly prejudicial without making proper attempts to check the facts. She argues that doing this creates a false impression in people’s minds and amounts to a serious breach of journalistic standards.

One specific issue that caught Wanga’s attention was a photograph published by The Standard on its front page on September 7. The picture showed a man holding a machete, and Wanga says the media used this image in a way that created a misleading impression. She has alleged that this man has been identified as a Siaya County employee, not someone from Homa Bay. For Wanga, the key point here is that the presence of someone from a neighbouring county at the scene raises questions about who was really behind the violence, potentially pointing to external actors rather than local forces.

On another count, Wanga has faulted KTN for not adequately covering her administration’s response to the allegations. She says her office provided a clear and substantive reply to the accusations, but the broadcaster did not give this response enough airtime or prominence. This, she argues, amounts to denying her the right to reply fairly and adequately, which is a cornerstone of responsible journalism.

The governor’s formal letter to the Media Council makes several demands. She wants both KTN and The Standard to issue immediate and prominent retractions of their stories. She is also asking for unconditional apologies from both outlets. Beyond that, she wants the Media Council to take what she calls appropriate disciplinary action against the journalists and media houses involved.

In her statement, Wanga emphasized that public conversation on sensitive issues must be grounded in truth and backed by solid evidence. She stressed that character assassination through unverified claims is not acceptable, and it undermines the role that media should play in holding power to account. She made the point that there is a big difference between legitimate scrutiny of those in office and presenting false information in a way designed to damage someone’s reputation.

The governor’s action represents a significant moment in Kenya’s media landscape, highlighting the tension between press freedom and media accountability. While Wanga has stated that she does not seek to restrict legitimate journalism, her complaints suggest that she believes these particular reports crossed an important line by publishing allegations without proper verification and without giving her administration sufficient chance to respond.

The Media Council of Kenya will now have to examine whether the complaints have merit and whether the broadcasts and publication breached the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism. This could be a crucial test of how Kenya’s media self-regulation system works in practice.