(Edward Mwendwa is the Director, Governor Press Service in Makueni County)
Makueni Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana is shocked and appalled by a report titled Ukambani governors' political moves hint at realignments appearing on Sunday Nation whose mission is only to portray him in bad light.
The report written by one Kitavi Mutua claims that the Governor has been meeting his colleagues Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos) in closed-door, clandestine meetings meant to sway the Kamba vote for their selfish ends.
Further, the fiction story claims that Governor Kibwana has endorsed William Ruto's presidential candidature for 2022 and has started selling his candidature in Ukambani region.
Interestingly, the writer goes on to quote anonymous sources in a desperate bid to build up his sleaze of a story which can only be described as a scandalous piece of fiction. For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Kibwana has never attended any closed-door meetings with his colleagues from Ukambani to discuss politics.
The only meetings he has attended have to do with the development of South Eastern Kenya Economic Block (Sekeb) which are open and held in public places. Neither has Governor Kibwana endorsed William Ruto's candidature.
If anything, Governor Kibwana has publicly announced his own bid and will offer himself for presidential elections in 2022. This, he is doing on his own volition.
We wish to warn the public that the report as published by the DN is total crass which must be ignored and treated with utmost contempt as it seeks to advance the motive of the reporter's paymasters who clearly have a bone to pick with Kibwana.
It is sad that a reputable newspaper such as Nation could allow itself to be (mis)used to peddle lies, sleaze and fiction in the name of political reporting which is totally bereft of facts or sense.
The reporter has clearly exposed himself as a gun for hire who has no shame advancing vested political interests through his unsuspecting employer.
At this earliest opportunity, we demand that Nation apologizes to Governor Kibwana and pull down the online version for publishing what is clearly a gutter press content.
#hivisasaoriginal