Defence CS Soipan Tuya and military officials at a past press briefing //Photo Courtesy
The Ministry of Defence has refuted claims published in Nation Media Group newspapers alleging that Orange Democratic Movement party leader Raila Odinga played a role in preventing a military coup against President William Ruto.
In a press release dated Monday, March 17, the Ministry dismissed the reports published on Sunday Nation and Taifa Jumapili as “false, baseless, unfounded, misleading and indeed reckless.
The controversial articles, citing an undisclosed source, claimed that Odinga, in an exclusive interview, stated he intervened to stop a military coup targeting President Ruto, who also serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces.
The ministry said that Kenya Defence Forces is committed to highest standards of national values and remains loyal to the president who is the commander in chief of armed forces.
“”The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is a professional and apolitical institution committed to the highest standards of integrity, discipline, and service to the nation. Read part of the press release.
It further condemned the publication of the articles, terming them not only irresponsible and unpatriotic but also a clear example of sensational reporting aimed at increasing readership rather than upholding journalistic integrity.
The ministry also challenged Nation Media Group to adhere to ethical journalism principles like accuracy, fairness and responsible reporting.
The development comes barely a day after the publisher was called out by a section of leaders in the Kenya Kwanza government.
On Sunday, Nandi County Senator Samson Cherargei hit out at Nation Media Group for their headline on the Sunday Nation terming the report as misquote.
In a Facebook post on Sunday morning, , Cherargei claimed that the headline was misleading and disparaging to both Odinga and the Kenyan military.
The lawmaker challenged the media house to issue an apology to the Kenya Defence Forces for not being in their reporting.
Cherargei went ahead and asked the former prime minister Raila Odinga to demand an apology or sue the media house for misquoting him
“PM Odinga must demand an apology or sue them for this non-objective/sensational reporting through brown envelope journalism. The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is the most disciplined, and non-partisan and doesn’t do politics; dragging them to such serious accusations is malicious, uncouth, barbaric, and primitive just for political expedience.”
Until the time of publishing this story, Nation Media Group was yet to respond to the press release by the Ministry of Defence
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