Wetang'ula Slams Standard Newspaper's 'Broad-Based Family' Publication, Demands Apology

Wetang’ula Slams Standard Newspaper’s ‘Broad-Based Family’ Publication, Demands Apology

The National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula, has given The Standard Group a 48-hour deadline to withdraw a report titled ‘Broad-Based Family’ that he claims is inaccurate and harmful.

In a demand letter shared on July 7, Speaker Wetang’ula’s lawyers, Milimo Muthomi and Company Advocates, demand that an unqualified apology be published on the newspaper’s main page.

“Our instructions are to demand, which we hereby dutifully do, that you tender an unconditional written apology to our Client at the top page of the next issue of the Standard Newspaper, and in any event not later than forty-eight (48) hours from the date hereof,” stated the letter.

The controversy stems from a July 6 front-page item titled Broad-Based Family, which included Wetangula’s portrait with other high governmental figures.

According to the demand letter, the item implied that these individuals owe their positions to family relationships with the Speaker, something his staff strongly denies.

Moses Wetangula has filed a lawsuit against the Standard Group over its headline today. pic.twitter.com/6qkaeTCy08— DP 🇰🇪 (@DanChepta) July 6, 2026

The letter states that only one person named in the story, Westlands Member of Parliament Tim Wanyonyi, is actually related to Wetangula, as his younger brother.

Even then, the lawyers argue Wanyonyi earned his seat through the ballot, noting he belongs to a different party and represents a constituency where Wetangula cannot even vote.

The letter further insists that none of the other officials mentioned owe their appointments to any family connection with the Speaker.

It adds that Wetang’ula’s own office at the National Assembly has not hired a single relative, a point his lawyers say underscores his commitment to fairness.

“Your said top page publication as read together with the detailed narrative appearing at Page 4 thereof, leaves no doubt as to what your publication was intended to achieve, and which was achieved, in summary, and among others, that our Client is a relative to all the persons named therein and through which association he has invoked to cause the holding and or placement of those persons in the public offices they hold,” stated the letter in part.

“Through this offending publication therefore, you have caused and portrayed our Client, in the mind of right-thinking persons, as, among others, an individual who utilize his public office and/or power to reward relatives with high public offices, commonly referred to as nepotism, among other vices.”

Wetang’ula’s team accuses The Standard of failing to verify facts before publishing, describing the story as a breach of responsible journalism standards.

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They argue the publication has exposed the Speaker to public ridicule, both within Kenya and among audiences beyond the country’s borders.

The demand letter describes the fallout as causing the Speaker unparalleled anxiety and trauma, damages his lawyers say deserve compensation.

Beyond an apology, the lawyers want The Standard to publish a retraction of equal prominence in its next print edition.

They also want the paper to admit liability, pull down the online version of the story, and halt further similar publications.

“Our instructions are to demand, which we hereby dutifully do, that you, with immediate effect, publish a similar publication of striking boldness at the top page of your next issue of the Standard Newspaper withdrawing your today’s publication and contents in respect to our Client,” stated the letter.

Should The Standard fail to comply within 48 hours, the lawyers warn they will proceed to institute full legal action against the publication.

Wetang’ula Slams Standard Newspaper’s ‘Broad-Based Family’ Publication, Demands Apology