Don't Bar Us, Media Houses Tell Commission

The Standard And Nation newspapers have asked the Kiruki Commission to ignore pleas to have them barred from covering its proceedings.

The two publications said yesterday the application by Ms Winnie Wangui, the daughter of Narc activist Mary Wambui, was baseless.

They said Wangui's complaint that articles carried by the two newspapers on July 19 maligned her were unfounded because they correctly reflected the proceedings.

Lawyer Chacha Odera, appearing for The Standard, asked Wangui's lawyer, Gibson Kamau Kuria, to stop wasting the Commission's time by making unnecessary submissions.

He said it was improper for Kuria to allege bias in the articles without making a proper application.

He said: "Then, why is he pressing the matter? All I can say is that this is an abuse of the process of this tribunal we can't afford the luxury of engaging in idle banter."

In her plea through Kuria, Wangui took issue with headlines in the two newspapers, which said her firm had forged documents at its formative stages.

She said the two newspapers had singled her for blame, yet other directors of the firm, Kesington Holdings Ltd, had also been named.

Wangui wanted the two newspapers cited for contempt, saying they had misreported the Commission's proceedings by engaging in a campaign to demonise her.

Kuria also claimed the two newspapers were hired to malign Wangui, and wanted to know who had hired them.

However, Odera and Daily Nation's lawyer, Ms Jan Mohammed, said a witness, Jane Njeri Joram, had identified Wangui as one of the directors. They said at no instance did the articles claim it was Wangui herself who forged the documents.

Odera said if Winnie felt aggrieved, she should seek other avenues of redress and not the Commission.

On Kuria's complaint that The Standard had depicted him as a puppet, Odera said the accompanying story was factual because the Commission itself had questioned why he was defending the deported brothers.

Odera said the headline, "Is Kuria an Undercover Lawyer for Armenians?," was therefore appropriate because the Commission was "perplexed and intrigued" by his line of questioning.

He said the media had a right to come up with artistic expressions, and urged the commission not to accept Kuria's plea to restrict the flow of information.

Odera argued that The Standard had a right to comment on matters of public interest and should therefore be allowed to make comments. It should not be restrained from publishing articles on the Arturs outside the proceedings, he said.

"It would be setting a very bad precedent. This country is greater than any of us, and it can't stop operating because this Commission is sitting," said Odera.

He added that The Standard was interested in the investigation because it had been a victim of a breakdown of law and order, and would therefore not sabotage theCommission.

Mohammed, for the Daily Nation, said Wangui's claim that the newspapers were maligning her was "pure rhetoric" because she did not give any evidence to prove it.

She said the public depended on the media for information, and asked the Commission not to shut out the newspapers.