{"id":419,"date":"2026-09-21T13:27:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T13:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/?p=419"},"modified":"2026-09-21T13:28:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T13:28:54","slug":"%f0%9d%90%8a%f0%9d%90%9a%f0%9d%90%a2%f0%9d%90%a4%f0%9d%90%9a%f0%9d%90%a2-%f0%9d%90%9d%f0%9d%90%9e%f0%9d%90%a7%f0%9d%90%a2%f0%9d%90%9e%f0%9d%90%ac-%f0%9d%90%86%f0%9d%90%9a%f0%9d%90%9c%f0%9d%90%a1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/?p=419","title":{"rendered":"\ud835\udc0a\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc24\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc22 \ud835\udc1d\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2c \ud835\udc06\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc1c\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc20\ud835\udc2e\ud835\udc1a \ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2e\ud835\udc20\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc2d \ud835\udc13\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2f\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2b \ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc1b\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc23\ud835\udc1a\u2019\ud835\udc2c \ud835\udc1d\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc25 \ud835\udc1f\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc26 \ud835\udc11\ud835\udc0c\ud835\udc12"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Linus Kaikai<\/em>.Photo Courtesy of The Kenya Times<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Royal Media Services (RMS) Editorial and Strategy Director Linus Kaikai has denied claims that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua contacted the media company seeking the dismissal of Citizen TV journalist Trevor Ombija.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clarification came after Ombija, who is also seeking the Nyakach parliamentary seat, claimed during a political gathering in Nyakach on Friday, September 18, 2026, that Gachagua had tried to have him fired following a heated television interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ombija linked the alleged attempt to an interview he conducted with Gachagua in March 2026, during which the two exchanged sharp remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cAs you see me standing here, Gachagua had made calls to try and get me fired from my job because we confronted each other,\u201d Ombija said while addressing the gathering.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

However, Kaikai has rejected the claim, saying RMS did not receive any such call from the former Deputy President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Linus Kaikai’s X post<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThis is not true. There was no such call from former DP Gachagua. Such a call would in any case not be worthwhile at RMS,\u201d Kaikai said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Kaikai also said he contacted Ombija after the remarks became public to establish what he meant by the allegation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kaikai, Ombija acknowledged that his statement was a mistake and expressed regret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI have asked Trevor about the remarks, and he says it is \u2018a mistake and I regret it\u2019,\u201d Kaikai said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Kaikai added that Ombija told him he did not expect his comments at the political gathering to attract attention or be widely reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cTrevor has also told me he \u2018didn\u2019t think the remarks would be picked up,\u2019\u201d Kaikai said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The controversy follows a tense interview between Ombija and Gachagua in March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports from the time indicate that Gachagua accused the journalist of being biased and described the interview as unprofessional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ombija made the latest remarks while explaining his political support for President William Ruto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he had chosen to back Ruto because, in his view, the President had stood with him and supported his agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cBut only Ruto has stood with us. Is it two terms or not? That is why I am standing with him because I know his agenda,\u201d Ombija said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The claim that Gachagua sought Ombija\u2019s dismissal remains disputed. Ombija publicly alleged that the former Deputy President made calls seeking his removal, while Kaikai has denied that any such call was made and says Ombija later acknowledged that the statement was a mistake. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linus Kaikai.Photo Courtesy of The Kenya Times Royal Media Services (RMS) Editorial and Strategy Director…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[143,140,138],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-linus-kaikai","tag-rms","tag-trevor-ombija"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":423,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions\/423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}