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President William Ruto hit out at The Standard for publishing stories that expose shortcomings of the government. [File, Standard]
There is an old story about a king who wanted to appear before his people in the finest garment ever made. A tailor promised him cloth of rare quality, the kind only the wise could recognise. The king saw nothing. His courtiers also saw nothing, but no one wanted to be first to admit the obvious. So they praised the garment. The people looked on, unsure whether to trust their own eyes. Then one plain voice said what others had been avoiding: The king was naked.
The story has lasted because it says something true about power. What is obvious in the street can become difficult to say in the palace. A leader may have advisers, strategists and loyalists, yet still lack the one thing leadership needs most: Honest speech.
Kenya has had a week that brings that old story close. The exchange between President William Ruto and The Standard was not just another disagreement. It became more telling when it moved to X where the President accused the newspaper of “extortionist propaganda” and dared it to try “eight days a week.”
