The Media Complaints Commission has made an admissibility ruling over complaints against The Star Newspaper filed by one Margaret Wamuyu Muthee on March 21, 2023.
The article, ‘Court throws out case by woman allegedly terminated for being pregnant’, was carried in the newspaper’s website on February 12, 2023.
Ms Wamuyu had termed the article unfair. She stated that the article related to a judgement delivered at the Employment and Labour Relations Court on February 2, 2023, where she had sued her former employer for an un-procedural decision not to renew her contract due to purported poor performance.
She also argued that the publication of the article disclosed her identity alone, without mention of her former employer, only referring to it as a human rights institution in order to protect the firm’s reputation. This, according to her, was a portrayal of her as a vexatious complainant who had no grounds for the suit despite her conviction.
She added that the article had failed to uphold ethical standards as provided for in the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya and found it biased, misleading, inaccurate, inflammatory and sexist.
In defence, The Star Newspaper denied the allegation against it. The newspaper averred that the contents of its article were fair and accurate as per the report they got from proceedings before the Employment and Labor Relations Court.
As stipulated under Section 35(3), the Commission is required to conduct a preliminary assessment of the complaint to determine the admissibility or otherwise of the complaint lodged.
In the execution of its mandate, the Commission relies on Sections 31 (a) (b) of the Media Council Act 2013 which grants it jurisdiction to receive, investigate and deal with media-related complaints. In this case, the complaint was made pursuant to Section 32 (1)(a) which provides that “a person aggrieved by any publication or conduct of a journalist or media house enterprise may make a complaint to the Complaints Commission, setting out the grounds for the complaint, nature of the injury or damage suffered, and the remedy sought.”
The Commission upheld the complaint as an admissible one and found the article deserving to proceed for further consideration due to the complaint’s triable issues raised therein that ought to be heard on merit before the commission either through mediation or adjudication.
The complete ruling by the Commission will be published once a determination is made.