Nominate senator Millicent Omanga has hit back at the Standard newspaper for what she terms as poor journalistic practices where readers are inundated with sensationalized stories each passing day.
This follows a story form the local daily that claimed the senator wrote to the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) requesting to fly Business Class because she apparently cannot fit in the Economy Class seats. The paper reports that MS Omanga did indeed write to the Commission and the matter was discussed on July 14 this year.
But members privy to the details say that the request was rejected because it would attract absurd requests from other legislators.
“It is true the Senator wrote a letter which the commission rejected on the grounds that we cannot give everyone who is well-endowed special treatment. This will give other MPs with different challenges to put demands on us,” a member of the PSC told the local daily.
The nominated legislator apparently denied knowledge of such a request.
My attention has been drawn to the story appearing on the Sunday Standard and also available on their online platform accompanied by a sexist click and bait headline in reference to my shape. Despite the Speaker and Clerk of the Senate saying they are not aware of such a request I made to PSC, It is unfathomable that the newspaper spared a whole page to belabor on pettiness rather than focus on issues that are of importance to Kenyans. It points to poor journalistic practices where readers are inundated with sensationalized stories each passing day and trivia, misinformation and disinformation are given prominence for commercial purposes. It would help to remind the newspaper, and anybody else who shares in their warped thinking, that I’m proud of my self and my physique and neither sexist headlines meant to egg readers into reading a convoluted story nor journalistic skulduggery will change it. I remain unmoved by that nonsense but my advise to armchair journalists who have nothing to write is that there are so much to write out there, especially human interest stories, that only an idle mind would find time to peddle rumours and half-truths. My only focus and commitment for now is serving the people.
Signed,
SENATOR MILLICENT OMANGA.