STANDARD NEWSPAPER FINALLY APOLOGIZES TO RAILA ODINGA OVER THE SH400M KQ SAGA ARTICLE

The Standard Newspaper has bowed to the demands of CORD leader Raila Odinga and apologised over an article connecting him to a Sh400 Million scandal at Kenya Airways (KQ). 

 The local daily regretted connecting the former Prime Minister to the saga after they splashed a front page headline; 'Former PM named in KQ Saga' and 'Raila Named in Questionable Winding Up of KQ's Profitable Cargo Arm' on pages 4 and 5. In the apology, The Standard stated: “We regret any embarrassment caused to Raila Odinga out of the impression created by the headlines that he had been named and had a role in the closure of Kenya Airways cargo business.” On Monday, the CORD leader through Mwangi & Co Advocate asked the newspaper to make an apology with the same prominence as the defaming story. Mr Odinga also demanded a retraction of the story published on Sunday that linked a company associated with him to the troubles facing the national carrier. “We are instructed to demand retraction of the headline and an apology to our client published with the same prominence that you granted the defamatory statement. We have instructions to commence proceedings against the writer and publisher within seven days if the said retraction and apology are not made,” the warning letter read. According to the report, Astral Aviation Limited (AAL) that is associated with the ODM leader had overcharged the carrier of Sh400 Million accumulated from 2006 to 2015. The newspaper reported that in 2004, Kencargo International Limited (KK) - which was the cargo unit of KQ - was shut down despite continually recording a high profit. After the shutdown, the cargo services were outsourced to AAL whose Chairman and shareholder upon its registration was Odinga. The report names the current shareholders and directors as Anwar Majid Hussein, Shashikant Gadhia Shareholder, Raila Junior Odinga and Amman Basin. The audit report noted that there was a conflict of interest in AAL’s dealings with the carrier, given that the family of Gadhia had shareholding with KQ. Once AAL became the national cargo carrier, KQ would pay for services provided by AAL while at the same time, AAL paid the airline when they needed the airline’s services. The report added that the business transactions were flawed as AAL charged KQ an extra fee for services it rendered, at the same time, KQ’s services to AAL were billed significantly lower than the market rates.

Credit:kenyans.co.ke