State House moles are
working overtime
Towards the end of Moi�s regime, leaks from State House and around the presidency were as endemic to Kenya as embassy cocktail parties.
Policy-makers or bureaucrats, lobbyists or advisers, all use leaks to the media to further their agenda.
Remember how People Weekly used to leak details from even the most confidential of meetings at State House? Sometimes, in effect, it is the Government which assigns aides to tell reporters the innermost secrets of the administration, like in the case of the Reagan Administration, which raised leaks to the status of an art.
Usually a leak is for political reasons, sometimes to further a programme or policy, and at other times to change it, sidetrack it or simply kill it.
Sometimes, the leak is personally motivated to enhance one's reputation, boost a career or destroy or weaken an enemy or rival.
Government servants often, even usually, have their own purposes for revealing secrets to journalists. They want to kill a proposal by exposing details prematurely, or they want to attract support from the public by the same method, or they want to head-off a rival who has a conflicting view.
Those people who leak secrets would be powerless without journalists. There would be no outlets for the whistle-blowers and their information.
Journalist are willing participants in the leaking game. They help devise the rules and they play the game well. Normally, the designated receiver of the leak is a journalist at the highest level who will be getting the information before anyone else. It is rare for a journalist to turn down such information.
Although most journalists claim leaks are part of news-gathering, some are compliant accomplices, advancing their own political or personal agendas in the process of assisting those who feed them information.
Sometimes, of course, the journalist is simply a dupe, a gull, or an innocent pawn of schemers and deceitful fellows.
The latest leaks from State House on the Kibaki family hiccups, the President's health, the Koinange Street scandal, Narc soliciting funds from Libya�s strongman, and President Kibaki�s kitchen Cabinet (a very disorganised one) are a clear indicator that, someone or some people in the current Government are experts in the art of leaking.
It is also possible State House subordinates are utilising one of the most common types of leaks � the trial balloon. These are meant to assess political reactions and public opinion before official action is taken. This is usually done in an attempt to guarantee a positive acceptance for the action.
Reports about Mr Matere Keriri's forced leave, Mr Esau Kioni�s removal from State House, and an imminent Cabinet reshuffle, are prime examples.
For instance, the names of possible transfers and newly-appointed Cabinet members might be leaked. If repercussions are unfavourable, the President can always deny the names had been on his list. Trial balloons are also used widely to test controversial policies.
Often, information is leaked simply because someone wants to send a message through the media � information that he cannot release any other way.
Frequently, information is leaked in an attempt to bolster the individual's position within the power-structure. But what is clear is that vanity plays an overwhelming role whatever the circumstances, and on both sides of the divide.
The journalist publishes leaks and dines out on his revelations for essentially the same reason that officials violate their oaths of confidentiality in order to be perceived to be members of a know-it-all insider.
Also, embarrassing your opponent in an attempt to destroy his political career is a major objective of a leak. Cabinet Minister Mukhisa Kituyi, knowingly or unknowingly, was trying this type of leak when he confessed to have played Kibaki�s prefect by reporting to him that the onus of promoting Kenya abroad was on Mr Kalonzo Musyoka's shoulders, but that the Foreign Minister had failed to carry out his mandate.
Dr Kituyi accused Mr Musyoka of failing to secure access to the US Millennium Challenge Fund. He was so tactless as to prompt the Liberal Democratic Party to portray him as being motivated by the desire to take over the Foreign Affairs docket.
Health Minister Charity Ngilu has been portraying her political rivals, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka (Ukambani), and Mr Raila Odinga (Premier's post) as having turned into globe-trotters instead of delivering services.
And just look at how Dr Chris Murungaru, Mr Robinson Githae and Mr Kiraitu Murungi have been testing the waters on the constitutional review process.
Confidentiality is normally a given and the media rarely betray a source. But sometimes, sources hide behind this revered journalistic principle, especially when feeding derogatory information about an enemy.
Lately, the media have been on edge about sources in the wake of several lawsuits. Of course, some journalists are not immune from pushing stories on behalf of groups or political agenda they privately endorse.
Currently the media is full of these journalists, judging from what we are reading daily on the Narc wrangles and political alliances. In fact, the public might be shocked if they realised just how shoddy and irresponsible some of these big-name reporters are. Objectivity, fair play and accountability are usually very far from their minds.
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Mr Mule is radio journalist living in Cologne, Germany.
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