The Nation Media Group has issued a statement apologizing for publishing a false 'obituary' of a retired civil servant identified as Rosemary Wekosasa.
The ‘death and funeral announcement’ printed in the Daily Nation on Monday, November 14, 2022, sparked a justifiably angry reaction from the shocked victim who visited their offices to protest the unfortunate piece of misinformation by irresponsible NMG staff.
The publication wrongly claimed that Ms. Wekosasa had died on November 8, 2022, a misleading claim which she personally showed up to confirm as untrue. “The company regrets the publication and wishes to apologize to Ms. Rosemary Wekosasa Ndururu, the members of her family not involved in the publication of the notice and members of the public generally for the inconvenience, shock and embarrassment that the false notification of death occasioned to them by this unfortunate occurrence,” the retraction notice reads in part. The disturbing incident rings bells of a similar occurrence in 2018 when the once-reputable media house published an obituary bearing the image of renowned businessman Jimmy Wanjigi.
A year later, the High Court later awarded Mr Wanjigi Sh8 million in damages for the gross violation of his privacy.
The judge ruled that the newspaper enjoyed profit from the obituary and awarded Wanjigi Sh4 million and his wife an equal amount for causing her anguish and pain.
Wanjigi described the supposed death announcement published as horrific and did not hurt him as such, but has affected his family a great deal. Despite the mix-up in the names ‘Wanjigi’ and ‘Wanjagi,’ the ‘obituary’ included eerily exact details pertaining to the prominent businessman’s life, including the names of his father, James Maina, and his wife Irene, as well as the school his children attend, the prestigious Institute LeRosey in Switzerland, and his company Kwacha Group which the paper referred to as Kwacha Industries.