Within no time of Ukur Yatani’s appointment as acting Treasury CS on July 24, the Star published on its website a profile of the man. Excellent speed. But that was about the only good thing about the story.
After announcing the appointment in the intro, the next paragraph said: “Yatani was born in 1967 in Forole, North Horr subcounty to Yatani Kanacho, a prominent Gabra elder.”
Apparently he has no mother. Or the mother was not worth mentioning, in the Star’s estimation. If it is possible to know the name of the father of a news subject, why not the mother?
Next: “Yatani served as the first governor of Marsabit County from 2013 to 2017 before he was defeated by the incumbent, Mohamud Ali.”
Just like that. Seems like he became governor immediately after birth? Not really.
“In 2002, Yatani became a District Officer for the Government of Kenya and quickly rose through the ranks to Senior District Officer and then was promoted to District Commissioner in July 2002.”
All that within months! Assuming one becomes a DO in January, how do they rise through the ranks to senior DO and then DC by July the same year?
According to the report, Yatani was elected North Horr MP in 2006. There was no general election in that year, so that must have been a by-election. What led to it? Who did he replace?
He was appointed Assistant Minster for Science and Technology. And then in 2009, Yatani was named ambassador to Austria. The reader was supposed to fill in some gaps. Like there was an election in 2007, which, apparently, Yatani lost to someone.
From the report, Yatani never went to any school. But he somehow became government administrator and held important political jobs.
What is the purpose of such a shoddy profile?
A reader commented: “I wonder why the Star is always in a hurry to publish; no one in the entire editorial board noted, Yattani was appointed as a DO in 2002 and quickly rose to a DC in 2002, ama tu hiyo ndio ukweli aiiiih.”
Another wrote simply: “This profile was written by an amateur.”
At the time of writing this piece several days after publication, the article was still on the Star website without correction – which suggests the editorial team doesn’t read readers’ comments. Or they just don’t care.
In contrast, K24 tweeted almost immediately Yattani was appointed: “QUICK FACTS: Ukur Yattani, the Labour CS, who takes over the Treasury helm in acting capacity: He’s 52 years old; born and raised in Marsabit; a Christian who speaks English, Swahili, Gabra and Oromo languages. Attached is his CV for more info.”
It shouldn’t be difficult for a national newspaper to quickly get the important details of the life of a high-ranking government official such as a CS.
