The raid was carried out after authorization by the court, as per a court order issued on October 3, 2024.
Auctioneers on Thursday, November 21 raided The Star newspaper godown located along Mombasa Road and seized property worth unknown amounts.
A video seen by Viral Tea captured minimal activity inside the printing warehouse with auctioneers milling around. Those working for the Kay Construction Company Limited, have stated that the newspaper publisher owes them rent arrears.Â
The landlord further indicated that the company has defaulted on rent of up to Ksh4 million. The raid was carried out after authorization by the court, as per a court order issued on October 3, 2024.
The court ordered that “the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Mombasa Road Police Station to offer/provide enough security to the applicant in order to seize the tenant goods in levying or distress for rent on Godown No. C06 within Nairobi.”
Inside The Star newspaper printing warehouse raided by auctioneers on November 21, 2024. /CYPRIAN NYAKUNDI
“The goods be attached, seized and sole in situ. The applicant and the landlord are hereby allowed to lock the premises to secure the seized items until when the distress process shall be complete,” the order obtained by Viral Tea reads in part.
However, the court underlined that the order was not an eviction or a demolition order and should not be construed as such.
The Star Newspaper is a local daily newspaper publication owned and run by the Radio Africa Group, which also operates Kiss 100 FM, Classic 105 FM, East FM, Radio Jambo, Smooth FM and Kiss TV.
In January 2024, the government through the Ministry of ICT awarded an exclusive contract to Convergence Media, which publishes The Star newspaper, to distribute the MyGov pullout.
MyGov is a government newspaper containing tenders and all government communications, including stories from different ministries. It also includes news from government agencies, vacancies across state offices, stories on agriculture, and innovation, and top stories from counties, youth and parliamentary affairs, among others.
“The 16-year-old publication is pleased to announce that its readers will be receiving free copies of the Independent, Fresh, and Different paper every Tuesday, accompanied by a MyGov pullout.Â
“This is after The Star won a tender late last year to circulate and print My Gov copies. This Tuesday, the paper will print and distribute 100,000 copies,” the newspaper announced on January 9, 2024, with the decision attributed to tough economic times.
Additionally, Radio Africa Group Head of Content Paul Ilado stated that the copies will be available across all 47 counties in the country, with copies at Huduma centres, matatus, and all public places and Post offices near them.
The newspaper was tasked with distributing the pullout, contrary to the industry norm that allowed all four national newspapers the chance to share in the revenue. The newspaper had defeated major competitors such as Daily Nation, The Standard and People Daily which have been reeling under diminished advertising revenue.
ICT Principal Secretary Edward Kisiang’ani, in a letter addressed to all PSs, CEOs and public universities dated January 23, explained that Convergence Media won the contract through a competitive process.
He further noted that the contract will be in place for two years after which other institutions will be invited to place their bids. “The terms of this contract restrict print advertisements emanating from all public institutions, save for the counties, to MyGov,” he stated.
“Any requests for exemptions to publish advertisements outside MyGov, on a day other than Tuesday (when MyGov is published), will be directed to The Star newspaper upon authorization by this office.”
The PS, as a result, directed all state ministries and parastatals to ensure that they forward planned advertisements to the Director of the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) by Friday of every week.
In recent years, the government has been at loggerheads with mainstream media houses over billions reportedly owed to them by the state. Reports had previously claimed that the Nation Media Group is owed an excess of Ksh900 million for advertising services it rendered to the government.Â
Former ICT CS Eliud Owalo, however, announced in December 2023 that the ICT Ministry was committed to settling a debt of Ksh1.2 billion owed to the media outlets.
