John Allan Namu Calls Out Oga Obinna Over Cash for Content Journalism

Investigative journalist John Allan Namu has called out popular podcaster Oga Obinna over what he describes as the normalisation of transactional, cash-for-content journalism in Kenya’s journalism space, warning that the practice threatens the credibility of the entire profession.

In remarks that have sparked debate online, Namu said the issue was not personal but a matter of professional principle. “It’s not about you, the individual. I don’t hate you, Obinna. This is wrong. What you’re doing is wrong,” Namu said. “A certain podcaster [is] receiving mountains of cash from a politician, supposedly for an event, and was raising money from pillar to post from all sorts of unsavoury characters whose money is not clean. You just can’t prove it and allowing that to pass as normal behaviour and as journalism is part of the problem.“

Namu warned that such practices are earning Kenyan media the label “Githeri Media,” a tag he said will stick unless journalists are brave enough to call out misconduct within their own ranks. “We need to be brave enough to call it out, because if our audience can see that, Kwani guys are blind, it shits on all of the good work that everybody else is doing,” he said. 

“I take a lot of time and invest a lot of effort in ensuring that every one of the products we produce is 100% factual. For some guy to come, because he’s received like 200K or 300K, and then pass that off as journalism is sh*ting on my work. We have to jealously guard our profession, because this is where we earn our daily bread.”

Responding to the reaction his comments generated, Namu clarified that his concern extends beyond any single individual, pointing to the intensified money and influence expected ahead of the next election cycle. “Well, I didn’t expect the reaction to my thoughts. Most see what I was saying. Some of you are missing my point about podcasters and politics,” he said. 

“We’re heading into a pivotal period where money, influence and power will be more intense than perhaps any election before it. Obinna is one of Kenya’s most-watched podcasters. Whether he wants it or not, that influence carries an equally heavy responsibility to the people who watch him.“

Namu referenced research by Odipo Dev, co-published last year, illustrating the growing intersection of podcasting, politics, and paid influence, adding, “As they say, with great power…“