Junet Mohamed Threatens to Sue Standard Group Over ‘Defamatory’ Coverage

Suna East MP and National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed has issued a legal threat against the Standard Media Group, accusing the media house of publishing defamatory stories that allegedly portrayed him as a traitor and damaged his reputation.

In a demand letter dated Tuesday, January 6, Junet—through his lawyers—gave the publisher seven days to retract the articles, issue a public apology, and give written assurances that no further defamatory content would be published about him.

Junet’s lawyers took issue with a series of articles published in the January 6 edition of the Standard Newspaper, appearing on the front page and pages 6, 7 and 8. The stories, authored by Irene Githinji, Edwin Nyarangi and Harold Odhiambo, allegedly described and portrayed Junet as a “traitor.”

“Our client has brought to our attention scandalous, reckless and malicious publication of defamatory articles… wherein they described and portrayed our client as a ‘traitor’,” the letter read.

The legal team argued that the language used depicted Junet as dishonest, politically disloyal, morally unprincipled, and serving unnamed interests rather than the public.

“The impugned words are plainly calculated to lower our client’s reputation… expose him to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, and impute betrayal of constitutional duty,” the lawyers stated.

Junet’s advocates stressed that he holds a senior constitutional office as Minority Leader, and that branding him a traitor without factual or legal basis amounted to extreme character assassination.

“To accuse the Minority Leader in the National Assembly of being a traitor is not robust journalism or political critique, but an outright character assassination of the most egregious kind,” the letter added.

They also objected to a separate article on page 6, which allegedly portrayed Junet as a shadowy political broker who disappeared after facilitating deals.

“These words falsely portray our client as a covert political agent engaged in dishonest and shadowy dealings,” the lawyers said.

Another article on page 8 was said to depict Junet as an absentee and negligent MP—claims his lawyers dismissed as false and malicious.

Junet’s legal team argued that the prominence and repetition of the allegations across multiple pages showed express malice and reckless disregard for journalistic standards.

They demanded:

• An immediate and unequivocal retraction of the articles

• A full public apology in the Standard Newspaper and on all digital platforms, with equal prominence

• A written undertaking that no further defamatory references would be published

Failure to comply within seven days, the letter warned, would trigger a lawsuit seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages, permanent injunctive relief, and legal costs.

The legal threat comes days after Junet was forced to respond to claims by ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, who accused him of pocketing money meant to pay party agents during the 2022 General Election.

Junet denied the allegations, insisting the funds were not given to him or ODM structures.

“The answer is simple and verifiable: former President Uhuru Kenyatta released the funds to his brother, Muhoho Kenyatta, who then appointed Peter Mburu to handle recruitment and payment of agents,” Junet said.

He further claimed that the operations were run from a highly restricted office in Westlands, allegedly inaccessible even to ODM leader Raila Odinga.

“Once they took charge, they never procured any agents for Hon. Raila Odinga, not in Mt Kenya and not in Luo Nyanza. It was a long con game,” Junet alleged.

He challenged all those named—including Sifuna, Uhuru Kenyatta and Muhoho Kenyatta—to publicly account for their roles so Kenyans could judge who was responsible for ODM’s 2022 loss.

The Standard Media Group has not yet publicly responded to Junet’s legal demands.