Sometimes reporters create their own facts. On Monday, July 16, the People Daily carried a story about a woman rep who was apparently denied a hotel room in Kericho on suspicion that she was going there with a man to do bad things.
“Drama unfolded in Kericho town after a hotel allegedly denied Laikipia Woman Rep Catherine Waruguru and her spouse access citing lack of evidence they were married,” the paper reported.
It seems the hotel is owned by one of those Christians who don’t want people doing ‘bad things’ in their premises. We hope the hotel vets all their customers to make sure the money they pay for services is clean – not got from NYS scams, gambling, narcotics, etcetera.
But throughout the People daily story, there was no single detail of any drama unfolding. Waruguru was only quoted as complaining about the way she was treated. Hotel manager Frank Kirui confirmed the hotel reserves the right of admission and doesn’t want men and women doing bad things there.
The purported drama only unfolded inside the People Daily reporter’s head.
But that was not the only problem with the story.
“The establishment is the second to make such a rule after Muriu’s Guest House in Nakuru town made it a policy 15 years ago that no couples could spend a night at the facility without producing a marriage certificate or other documentary evidence to prove the legitimacy of their union,” the report went on.
How sure is the People Daily that the Kericho hotel is the second one to have this rule? Are they sure there are no other hotels in Kenya with a similar rule? How did the paper establish this as a fact?
Two paragraphs down, the paper reported: “Investors in hospitality industry, mostly staunch believers, have embraced the policy of locking guests without marriage certificates to deter adultery, among other reasons.”
So, it is not just two hotels in Nakuru and Kericho stopping people from doing bad things in their rooms. It is an industry-wide phenomenon.
Which is which? Only two hotels or many in the industry have embraced this rule? If the latter, how did the People Daily establish this as a fact?
