National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula gave the Standard Group a 48-hour deadline to retract a story titled “Broad-Based Family,” which he described as false and malicious.
In a demand letter on July 7, Wetang’ula’s lawyers, Milimo Muthomi and Company Advocates, required the newspaper to publish an unconditional apology on its front page.
“Our instructions are to demand, which we hereby dutifully do, that you that you tender an unconditional written apology to our Client at the top page of the next issue of Standard Newspaper, and in any event not later than forty eight(48) hours from the date hereof,” the letter stated.
The dispute stems from a July 6 front-page story, “Broad Based Family,” which featured Wetangula’s photograph alongside other senior public officials. Wetangula’s legal team said the article implied that those officials got their positions through family connections to the Speaker, a claim it said his camp strongly rejects.
The letter further states that only one person mentioned in the story is related to Wetangula, his younger brother, Westlands Member of Parliament Tim Wanyonyi.
Wetangula’s lawyers argued that Tim Wanyonyi earned his seat through the ballot, noting that he belongs to a different party and represents a constituency where Wetangula cannot vote.
The letter also insisted that none of the other officials named in the story obtained their appointments through any family link to the Speaker.
It further added that Wetang’ula’s own office at the National Assembly has not hired any relative, which his lawyers said shows his commitment to fairness.
“Your said top-page publication as read together with the detailed narrative appearing at Page 4 thereof, leaves no doubt as to what your publication was intended to achieve and which was achieved, in summary, and among others, that our Client is a relative to all the persons named therein and through which association he has invoked to cause the holding and/or placement of those persons in the public offices they hold,” the letter said in part.
“Through this offending publication, therefore, you have caused and portrayed our client, in the mind of right-thinking persons, as, among others, an individual who utilize his public office and/or power to reward relatives with high public offices, commonly referred to as nepotism, among other vices.”
Wetang’ula’s team accused the Standard newspaper of failing to verify its facts before publication, saying the story fell short of responsible journalism standards.
They argued that the report subjected the Speaker to public ridicule, both within Kenya and among audiences abroad. The demand letter said the fallout caused Wetang’ula “unparalleled anxiety and trauma,” and argued that the resulting harm deserves compensation.
In addition to an apology, the lawyers demanded that the publication publish a retraction with the same level of visibility in its next print edition. They also asked the paper to admit liability, remove the story from its online platform, and stop any further publications of similar content.
“Our instructions are to demand, which we hereby dutifully do, that you, with immediate effect, publish a similar publication of striking boldness at the top page of your next issue of the Standard Newspaper withdrawing your today’s publication and contents in respect to our client,” the letter stated.
The lawyers warned that if the Standard does not comply within 48 hours, they will proceed with full legal action against the publication.
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