In the United States, Hyundai motorcars have indeed come along way from being at the bottom of the pit in terms of quality and styled cars. After many years of hard work by their engineers and designers, Hyundai’s quality is now almost equal to the competition in terms of contemporary styling and dependability, a prerequisite in the American market. But the American consumers are yet to fully accept Hyundai vehicles and to fall in love with them as they are with the Japanese made Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans.
Rome was not built in a day, slowly and surely, Hyundai with its quality engineering master-pieces is changing the minds of many American consumers and is now chipping away a thick market share slice of the world’s largest and most lucrative automotive market. The story of Hyundai in the American market is similar to that of Kenya Times media house in the Kenya print media market.
In the mind set of many Kenyans, this newspaper has always been considered a Kanu mouth-piece. Because of that relationship the paper is not expected to be at par with its two major competitors which are independently owned. But like the Hyundai story in America, the high standards of the Kenya Times and its sister paper, Sunday Times professional work is at best equally to or perhaps it has even surpassed its two major competitors in all areas- in terms of unbiased news reporting, feature articles and analyses among others. The paper’s open-minded commentaries is jealously unmatched by the competition.
The columnists of this newspaper (and they are several) are all not made to sing the same song as is seen with the competition. For instance, the columnists are all not pro-Orange Democratic Movement Kenya, or anti-President Mwai Kibaki’s Government. In addition Kenyans who like to pen down opinion-editorial commentaries find an outlet through this media house to air their views and opinions. It is in this newspaper that one has a chance to read “thought provoking and insightful political commentaries” that do not favour any side of our country’s political divide.
Let me cite an example as to how the competition slants issues in some of their commentaries. Two Sundays ago, a senior editor of the local papers wrote a commentary titled; “Why can’t Mwakwere do his job right?” In this commentary the Transport Minister Chirau Mwakwere is blamed and readers were told that; “he can’t do his job right” simply because under his tenure as the Transport Minister the Traffic Police is not effective in enforcing the transport rules and regulations. In short Mwakwere was being accused of not being effective as a Minister because of the sloppy Traffic Police work and dilapidated road conditions.
Let me cite an example as to how the competition slants issues in some of their commentaries. Two Sundays ago, a senior editor of the local papers wrote a commentary titled; “Why can’t Mwakwere do his job right?” In this commentary the Transport Minister Chirau Mwakwere is blamed and readers were told that; “he can’t do his job right” simply because under his tenure as the Transport Minister the Traffic Police is not effective in enforcing the transport rules and regulations. In short Mwakwere was being accused of not being effective as a Minister because of the sloppy Traffic Police work and dilapidated road conditions.
In the same the article, the writer praised former Transport Minister John Michuki who he said was very efficient in the management of our road safety. In my view Michuki is erroneously considered as the Minister who brought sanity to the public transport sector.
The writer was intentionally hiding from his unsuspecting readers (and perhaps fans) the fact that during Michuki’s era at Transcom House, it was Christopher Murungaru who was the Minister of National Security—in charge of the Traffic Police— who gave his colleague all the support he (Michuki) needed in the area of traffic laws enforcement.
The writer also deliberately did not tell his readers that when the roles were reversed, and Michuki assumed the National Security docket, and Murungaru the Transport portfolio, Michuki did not give his successor the necessary support he needed in the area of Traffic Police law enforcement. Mwakwere like Murungaru is facing the same problems when it comes to the Traffic Police work.
The writer was intentionally hiding from his unsuspecting readers (and perhaps fans) the fact that during Michuki’s era at Transcom House, it was Christopher Murungaru who was the Minister of National Security—in charge of the Traffic Police— who gave his colleague all the support he (Michuki) needed in the area of traffic laws enforcement.
The writer also deliberately did not tell his readers that when the roles were reversed, and Michuki assumed the National Security docket, and Murungaru the Transport portfolio, Michuki did not give his successor the necessary support he needed in the area of Traffic Police law enforcement. Mwakwere like Murungaru is facing the same problems when it comes to the Traffic Police work.
As a concerned Kenyan, I took the liberty to write to the editor highlighting the fact that he perhaps missed the point in understanding certain ministerial duties and responsibilities. I am not sure if my note did anything or not, but the following week (last Sunday), the editor apologized to the Transport Ministry by noting: “I owe the ministry- though NOT the Minister of Transport- an apology. In my column last week I did not point out that the job of ensuring road safety is shared between Transport and the police. Transport sets the safety regulations, the police enforce them.”
Apology to the Ministry, yes, but the funny thing about this apology is that the “correction story” was cleverly hidden under a different story altogether so that people do not openly see it as they were made to see the first story (where Mwakwere’s name was used). If we are to be fair to any public figure even if we hate them personally, then let us be fair across the board. The variety of the stories/commentaries in the Kenya Times and Sunday Times are what is setting this media house apart from the rest of the competition. In the diaspora the publications are first among equals and has the same circulation like its two competitors.
Boldly speaking, in my writings as a commentator and a columnist, first I have no fear of being branded names. For instance, I see a lot of positive things in my country as opposed to some of my contemporaries who only see the negative side of the Government and country. If President Mwai Kibaki or his government do an excellent job, I will say so without fear of being branded a sycophant. I have tried to be very fair in my commentaries and using the facts on the ground without twisting those facts to favour my opinion or the people I like. All this is made possible because Kenya Times is fair in its editorial policies, as simple as that. Happy New Year to you all.
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