Renowned political scientist Professor Mutahi Ngunyi has weighed in on the escalating public spat between President William Ruto and KANU chairman Gideon Moi, offering the head of state a piece of advice that is as blunt as it is colourful.
For the better part of two days, Ruto and Gideon Moi have been locked in a very public social media war, with the president accusing the Standard Group proprietor of using his newspaper to run an extortion campaign against his administration.
“GMoi, your STANDARD media’s 5 days a week EXTORTIONIST propaganda HEADLINES on me and my administration’s transformative track record will get you NOTHING and NOWHERE. BLACKMAIL to yield to your GREED? NEVER. Kenya belongs to all Kenyans, not you alone. Jaribu 8 days a week. Do your WORST,” Ruto wrote on X on Wednesday.
The President went further, turning his fire on what he described as Gideon Moi’s treatment of Standard Group employees, accusing the billionaire of hiding behind debt claims while forcing workers to go without pay for months on end.
“Bro, the BILLIONAIRE you are, HIDING behind debts, forcing many months’ UNPAID labour slaving to defend your STANDARD headlines BOLD extortion GANGSTERISM driven by GREED, is HEARTLESS to loyal workers, INSULT to journalism and BETRAYAL to free media that STANDARD once belonged,” the President wrote.
Into this noisy exchange stepped Mutahi Ngunyi, who chose not to take sides but instead offered Ruto a historical lesson in how to handle a hostile press. He pointed the President towards a 1931 memoir by British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, which contained the famous observation that the press enjoys the prerogative of the harlot, possessing power throughout the ages without any of the responsibility that should accompany it.
Drawing directly from that wisdom, Ngunyi’s advice to Ruto was stripped down to its bare essentials.
“Dear Ruto: Just BRIBE the H@rl@t. SIMPLE,” Mutahi wrote, suggesting that all the noise surrounding the Standard Group’s coverage would disappear the moment Ruto simply gave Gideon Moi what he was quietly looking for.
