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Akothee defends Kenya Airways over ‘bad publicity’ by the media

By Sylvania Ambani September 15th, 2022 2 min read

Singer Akothee has called out a leading media house in Kenya over what she termed as giving bad publicity to Kenya Airways after a tragic incident in which a passenger died aboard the national carrier on Wednesday.

The deceased passenger was later identified as Baringo County Deputy Governor Charles Kipng’ok. According to KQ, Mr Kipng’ok died after experiencing breathing difficulties while boarding Flight KQ612. Mr Kipng’ok was heading to Mombasa where was expected to join other county bosses for the Council of Governor induction.

However, Akothee is of the view that using the airlines pictures by the said station in their new bulletins yet the death was not as a result of a crash is unfair to the airline.

She said that the death that happened was unfortunate and had nothing to do with Kenya Airways.

Also read: Flight crew to the rescue of ‘low and lost’ Akothee

“What I have never understood is why the airlines picture is used whenever death occurs yet it has not crashed, or crash landed. People travel with A lot of underlying health conditions, it’s by bad lack that death nocks when least expected. I doubt the airline would allow any passenger traveling at a critical condition to board the plane, and if it’s so then there are medical measures taken,” Akothee said.

“This is demeaning the credibility of the Airline especially when it has occurred three times in a raw. This is the only international airline that we have as nation. For us to compete in the market share we don’t need negative publicity especially when the cause is not directly linked with the craft. As an investor, I think this kind of publicity doesn’t do justice to us even as a nation. I sincerely and honestly think we can do better publishing of news in a better way. Unless it’s personal,” she said.

In a statement, KQ said the passenger was pronounced dead at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while the aircraft, headed for Mombasa, was still on the ground.

Also read: Another passenger dies aboard KQ flight from Nairobi to New York

“Kenya Airways PLC regrets to announce that a passenger developed breathing difficulties this evening while boarding KQ612 that was scheduled to depart for Mombasa at 1900hours. The passenger was pronounced dead by medical personnel at JKIA while the aircraft was still on ground,” KQ said while adding that the JKIA health and security agencies tried to handle the issue to no avail.

This is the third case over the past four weeks, where a passenger has died aboard a KQ flight. On September 1, the airline reported the death of a passenger on its Nairobi-New York flight.

On August 22, a KQ flight from New York to Nairobi was forced to make an emergency landing in Casablanca, where Moroccan medical workers attempted to help but discovered that the passenger, a Kenyan man, was already unresponsive.

Also read: Kenya Airways speak on Kenyan who died in flight from New York