Top Nation editor trapped in Sonko, Kibichio wars – Weekly Citizen

Nairobi county governor Mike Sonko is seeing the hand of Interior principal secretary Karanja Kibicho in his tribulations saying he has enlisted the services of Mutuma Mathiu, Nation Group editorial director to fight him hence what he terms as negative publicity from Aga Khan-owned media outlet.
According to the governor, Mutuma is close to Kibicho after being introduced by journalist Mwenda Njoka who has been at Harambee House holding the position of Interior ministry spokesman. The two also worked together at Nation Centre and they are from the same community.

Sonko

Insiders within Sonko camp reveal that ever since Mutuma took the mantle of editorial portfolio, the governor has been having sleepless nights.
Media practitioners have been sucked into the unending war pitting Kibicho and Sonko.
Last week, bloggers suspected to have been on the governor’s payroll, Mwangi Francis and Polycarp Hinga carried out a smear campaign on Nation Media Group.

Mutuma

The bloggers were joined by Benard Kibet, Kennedy Gichuru, Ngure Paul, Justus Ondieki and Kevin Munyui in the smear campaign against the media group.
They staged an Internet attack on the Nation Media Group over the coverage seen as critical of government projects.
The campaign believed to have been designed by a Nairobi-based public relations firm, started at dawn and went on for several hours.
According to sources, Sonko’s agenda was to cause friction between Kibicho and Mutuma.
The governor believes that Mutuma is the one used by the PS to plant negative stories on him at the media group.
On Saturday last week, the Nation published a story headlined ‘This Man Sonko’ further casting aspersion on the governor’s integrity.
The sources added that state machinery using emissaries, is the one who leaked Sonko’s dossier to the Star editor Paul Ilado on how the governor was released from prison three months before completing his one year sentence because he was HIV positive.
According to the court ruling, the governor applied for a review of his sentence after serving nine months claiming he was HIV positive.
The controversial judgment was issued by High Court judge Samuel Oguk (now deceased) in application No 80 of 2001.
But Sonko has never publicly spoken about his HIV status.
Dramatically, Justice Oguk who reduced Sonko’s sentence was sacked by the Judiciary during the radical surgery in 2008.
Previously, Sonko has publicly claimed that he escaped from prison where he was serving 12 months after being convicted of fraud.
However, Sonko had earlier in 1998 escaped from Shimo la Tewa prison but was rearrested in 1999.
The governor, who has claimed being a jailbird, escaped to attend the burial of his mother Saumu Mukami.
When anti-graft sleuths arrested the acting Nairobi county secretary Pauline Kahiga over claims she had refused to cooperate and provide crucial documents needed for investigations, the matter was widely covered but Sonko blamed Kibicho for the mess.