The Luo have an unflattering saying about a rat. Oyieyo kayi to kudhi. A rat cools you and then bites. That’s why if you went to bed with food particles on you or didn’t wash your hands after a late super, you may wake up in the morning to find your body parts eaten. And you didn’t feel a thing.
Somebody did a rat on Deputy President William Ruto in the February 21 Sunday Standard. But why?
Titled, “The William Ruto many don’t know,” the story by Special Correspondent (about this in a moment) stared off with shameless flattery.
Paragraphs 2-6: The DP is “great orator who knows what to say where […], generous to a fault, a Christian, and a ‘hustler,” the Standard wrote.
Paragraph 3: His political career shot out the gate at only 26 years of age, when he joined Youth for Kanu 1992 (YK ‘92).
Paragraph 4: “In quick succession he rose to be MP, assistant Minister, Cabinet Minister and Deputy President.”
By this time you’re likely wondering: did somebody get paid to write only rosy things about Ruto? Easy. That was only the “rat cooling” section. They then stated eating him out, non-stop, for 21 paragraphs.
- “The DP is conspiratorial and only loyal to himself. At YK ’92, we came to discover the young man we trusted […] was an enemy within.” – Political activist Sam Nyamweya.
- “The man is uncomfortable with people superior to him […] and with those who know his past. He can’t entertain independent and experienced minds who won’t agree to be led by the nose.” – Former Cabinet Minister Musa Sirma.
- He has publicly supported the candidature of Rift Valley’s big wigs like former ministers Franklin Bett and Henry Kosgey, only to turn around to secretly ensure their defeat. –unnamed sources.
- The DP has a domineering streak. As a Cabinet minister in the Kibaki government, he once bad-mouthed the saying: “When you are the boss you do the telling, not listening!” – Majority Leader Amos Kimunya.
- The DP is “a dictator in the mould of a president of a neighbouring country.” – Former Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto.
- DP Ruto has “ability to manipulate every deal in his favour.” – Former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo.
- “William Ruto is […] the character described in Michael Cohen book on Donald Trump titled: Disloyal.” An unnamed former powerful permanent secretary from the Rift Valley.
Well, we will say two things.
First, in the heat of a political campaign season, two most important attributes that journalists must hold are fairness and balance.
To be fair in a negative story, seek a rebuttal from the candidate’s campaign. The Standard showed no attempt made.
For balance, if you give quality time about candidate A, you should give equitable measure to candidate B. Instead, in the middle of this story the Standard linked four headlines about the DP. Three painted him outright bad.
The first said, “Ruto: they want to push me out of government.” It was the Standard’s summary of the DP’s February 20 speech in Kabarnet.
The second said, “Ruto’s UDA headache.” This was last Saturday Standards’ headline story on how the Deputy President is stuck in Central Kenya, where no leader wants to join the new United Democratic Alliance party associated with him.
The third said, “Ruto absent as Uhuru meets top government officials.” This was about how the Deputy President was allegedly not invited to a Cabinet level meeting chaired by the President last week.
The fourth said, “Ruto to Raila: I disagree with your understanding of hustlers.”
All four stories written in a span of four days, from February 18 to 21, piled on Ruto. That’s not balance.
The second thing we’ll say is: who wrote that rat story? A Special Correspondent. Who is that?
In this business, anonymous authorship is allowed on extremely limited scenarios. Like in a whistle-blower story. Or a story that would put author in imminent physical danger.
Did this rat story fall under either? The Standard didn’t say. And we don’t think so.
