Standard Group protest: Stranded demonstrators raise questions over who paid them

The confrontation at Standard Group headquarters on Friday has raised questions over the mobilisation of protesters and the increasingly hostile political environment facing the media as Kenya heads towards the 2027 General Election.

The incident came after a group identifying itself as Bunge la Wananchi threatened to mobilise thousands of people to demonstrate outside the media house over what it described as “personal attacks” on President William Ruto.

The group accused The Standard and KTN of publishing what it described as negative and inflammatory coverage of the President and his administration.

“Many people have warned you for a very long time that you ought to change, but every day, you write inflammatory statements and useless things. We as youths, we are going to surprise you,” one of the group’s members said in a video that circulated online days before the demonstration.

On Friday, a group of protesters arrived at the Standard Group headquarters shortly before 11am carrying placards accusing the media house of spreading what they described as “misinformation”.

Some protesters accused the media house of unfairly targeting the President in its coverage.

“You (SG) are only covering Ruto negatively. Media is very influential and your coverage is making people hate him, sometimes for no reason,” some of the protesters were heard saying.

The demonstration remained outside the premises for about an hour before tensions rose. The protesters blew vuvuzelas and whistles as the confrontation escalated, with some attempting to gain access to the compound.

But what followed offered a glimpse into the organisation of the demonstration, with some of those who had attended raising questions over how they had been mobilised and what they had been promised.

The Saturday Standard witnessed one of the alleged organisers attempting to leave the area on a motorbike before he was confronted by members of the group. He later got into a nearby police vehicle and drove away.

The development left some of the protesters angry and frustrated, with several complaining that they had not received the money they expected.

A group of women at the scene openly complained about payment and the cost of travelling to the demonstration.

“Ati tutembee hadi Jevanjee ndio tupewe pesa hapo (That we walk to Jevanjee to be given money there). How?” one woman was heard asking.

“I came all the way from Westlands. Imagine!” another said.

Some complained that they had spent their own money to travel to the venue and were now stranded without enough money to return home.

“I personally, I was called last night that there were some maandamano. I didn't know we were to come here. I was not even told how much I was to be paid,” a middle-aged woman said.

Others said they had been paid but complained that the amount was insufficient to cover their transport costs.

Some of those interviewed said they had travelled from Kibra, Dandora, Kangemi and Mathare, among other parts of Nairobi.

“Others have received a thousand each yet we are being given Sh400. Imagine only Sh400 yet I came with Sh200 will go back with the same. What kind of business is that,” one woman from Kibra complained.

Another responded: “kusema ukweli wametucheza.”

Several women mentioned a person they identified as Cynthia as being involved in distributing the money.

One woman complained that the issue of payment had not been clearly explained to them.

“Hakusema mambo na pesa,” one woman said.

Her colleague asked: “What did she say?”

“She didn't say about the amount each one of us would get, but she said she will give money,” she responded.

Another woman recounted how she had asked about the arrangements after arriving at the venue.

“When I arrived here I got hold of some women and they were recording names and I asked Cynthia ‘watatupanga aje’ and she said ‘mshapangwa na Galgalo’ nikauliza aje,” she said.

According to her account, she was then told that each person would receive Sh400, prompting her to question the amount because she had already spent Sh200 travelling to the venue.

The accounts have raised questions about whether some of those who turned up understood the purpose of the demonstration, who mobilised them and how payments were organised.

The questions are particularly significant given that the demonstration had been announced days earlier, with the group saying it intended to mobilise more than 5,000 people.