Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has demanded a public apology from People Daily newspaper for alleged defamation over an article associating her with corruption in the county.
The governor accused the newspaper of publishing a 'malicious' article on Thursday accusing her government of paying ghost contractors.
Waiguru accused the newspaper of being used for political witch hunt by her adversaries.
"People Daily is being used by my detractors to pursue a corruption narrative to achieve obvious political objectives".
"The allegation about my government paying Sh77 million to some company is blatantly untrue and without any foundation. It is shameless and an abdication of basic journalistic ethics for the newspaper not to verify the basic facts before publishing and especially on the front page," Waiguru said in a statement on Thursday.
The story published by PD had the headline 'New Sh77m water project scam stalks embattled Waiguru'
The publication narrated in the story how a woman found out her company which had tendered for the Sh77 million Mwea/Makima water project received payment without her knowledge.
Through her lawyers, Waiguru has given PD seven days to publish an equivocal apology on the front page of the newspaper, failing which she will proceed with legal action.
"If we do not receive your equivocal apology published in the front page of the People Daily with the same prominence and front size print and picture as our client's appears in today's paper, admission and compensation within seven days we have firm instructions to forthwith institute legal proceedings against you," read part of the notice by Waiguru's lawyers.
This comes a day after the Council of Governors ordered a block on adverts to Nation Media Group after it published a story it found unfavourable on corruption.
The statement met backlash with the Media Council of Kenya saying the statement was in bad faith and a threat to media freedom.
