Babu Owino on the spot over ‘nasty’ call to journalist
A senior journalist has accused Embakassi East lawmaker Babu Owino of calling and speaking ‘nasty’ things to him.
In an interview with Nairobi News, Citizen TV Editor Muraya Kariuki confirmed having an ‘exchange’ with the youthful politician.
“We had an exchange on the phone last (Monday) night, said Kariuki.
“He spoke very nasty things to me and even after I ended the phone call he went on to send me text messages and WhatsApp texts which I have shared on social media. For now, that is all I want to say.”
I just received a very nasty phone call from a person who introduced themselves as Hon Babu Owino on +254 711 111311
This has to do with the work I do. It is not good manners to try scare lowly journalists. Tunaomba tufanye kazi kwa amani— Muraya Kariuki (@murayakariuki) September 6, 2021
Some of the texts shared by Kariuki, formerly at NTV and KTN, he is accused of both being responsible for the ‘negative’ news accorded to opposition leader Raila Odinga on the popular news station, plus being on the ‘DP’s payroll’.
Meanwhile, Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) secretary Eric Oduor has condemned the incident and urged politicians to desist from intimidating journalists from doing their job.
“We are protesting against this kind of behaviour and will urge Muraya to make a police report on the matter. We know that as we are going into an election year such incidents usually become very popular,” said Oduor.
Oduor also confirmed the union had recently met the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials to discuss among others, how to protect journalists against aggressive politicians.
This development comes a few days after politicians led a half-hearted and unsuccessful call on social media for Kenyans to ‘boycott’ watching a prominent TV station over alleged unfair coverage.
Kenya is set to go to the polls on August 8, 2022.