KTN risking its credibility

‘The Profiteers’ is a three-part documentary that was scheduled to a run on KTN. The investigative piece produced and voiced by award-winning journalist John Allan Namu of Africa Uncensored exposed the plunder of South Sudan’s resources by some government officials. The perpetrators, according to the story, are protected by Kenya’s military. The documentary explicitly mentions Kenyan banks that were allegedly used as conduits in the looting and transfer of cash.

In the days leading to the airing of the piece, KTN ran a promotional trailer throughout the week. But the broadcast was dropped before it was scheduled to go on air. The decision raised a lot of questions.

In March, KTN suspended the airing of an investigate report on grand theft at Kenya Power titled #Hadubini by Hussein Mohammed and #InsideSource by Francis Ontomwa. The station simply informed viewers without explanation that the documentary would not be aired. The investigative piece is gathering dust on KTN shelves.

On ‘Profiteers’, Namu in a post on his Twitter handle stated that the editors at KTN “were largely happy with the story, but wanted to remove certain parts of it as they sought comment from an adversely mentioned person. We disagreed, given that we had already sought fair comment from this person.”

The question that editors at KTN should answer is: who are the people who never wanted the story aired? Why did the editors bow to the pressures, halting the transmission?

It is obvious there was interference. No media house can announce planned publication of a report without being sure of its content. If there were unresolved issues, KTN would certainly have ironed them out before promising its viewers the investigative report.

Second, the explanation that someone who was mentioned adversely in the report had not commented is a lame excuse. The fact that one was given the opportunity to comment on the allegations is enough.

Namu went ahead to upload the three-part documentary on social media platforms of Africa Uncensored. It has received a lot of viewing and sparked important conversations here and abroad. At the time of writing, each part of the documentary averaged 150,000 views. The numbers will increase due to the interest the expose has created.

After the story was uploaded online, South Sudan residents in Kenya together with activists organized a protest against the South Sudan government to demand the freezing of assets of those fleecing the country and sanction banks that have facilitated the alleged looting.

That shows the power of social media especially in instances where media houses are compromised to deny citizens information or are timid.

This incident raises yet again questions about KTN’s credibility as an independent source of news. Credibility is a media house’s most important asset. KTN honchos owe viewers a proper explanation for why they chose to insult the intelligence of Kenyans in this way.

If the station or whoever it wanted to please intended to kill the truth, they failed big time. It is all out there.

Here is a sample of comments from ‘netizens’ concerning Namu’s documentary:

Evans Kinyua@EvansKinyua17: “KTN chickened out of airing ‘The Profiteers’ most likely after a phone call from very high up. From friends and collaborators of the South Sudanese buccaneers. And those, ladies and gentlemen, are our leaders”.

Wairimu Anne@awwairimu Replying to @AfUncensored: “I cried most bitterly when I watched this documentary. I think Africans have an inherent problem. We seem to function [best] at sub-human levels. Woi, that mama pulled my heart and the theft of resources is downright immoral. Good job for bringing this to light”.

Gathambo @Gahtambo, Replying to @AfUncensored: “There is South Sudan. Kenya always benefits from these wars. Ethiopia, Somali, Zaire, Rwanda, Uganda all their money ended in Nairobi. If peace returns in these countries Nairobi would deflate”.

Majang chien  @MajangChien: “After watching the three parts of #TheProfiteers by @johnallannamu, I realized that by the time genuine peace comes home, we won’t have enough natural resources to build ourselves. They’re disappearing at an alarming rate and nobody is helping because the players are The Profiteers”

Boniface Mwangi Verified account@bonifacemwangi: “On Tuesday 9th October, 6pm, @Pawa254 we shall screen #TheProfiteers by @AfUncensored and later on have a conversation with the award winning journalist @johnallannamu. Get a chance to ask Namu how they did it. In the meantime watch #TheProfiteers here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8SSOIb3zzK_0E2vS98jluamdiR0f-9_4 …”

Afreaka! @Afreaka_: “That is the reality. The situation is hopeless. More war means more looting.”

MigunaVerified account@MigunaMiguna: “Bravo Namu. This is a very important investigative piece. But my only concern is that it indirectly EXONERATES Salvar-Kiir and his cronies, who has looted much, much more and destroyed South Sudan. It would have been much better if it deals with the SPLM/A and SPLM-IO – equally.”

Peter Maina@PeteroMaina: “Wow, John you are daring. No wonder you have made a name for yourself in this field of investigative Journalism. Excellent piece. I doubt if the Kenyan media houses would screen. They will be compromised by the Cartels you are exposing. This is huge money. It’s a very sad story.”

Charles Mwabili @CMwabili: “Now we know. What a shame our own financial institutions @KeEquityBank @KCBGroup STANBIC BANK and @DahabshiilKenya are fanning the massacre and human conflict happening in SOUTH SUDAN! They are profiteering on BLOOD MONEY!They are part of #TheProfiteers SHAME!!”