‘I Am Not a Journalist’ Oga Obinna Responds to John Allan Namu

Popular comedian Oga Obinna has responded to investigative journalist John Allan Namu’s recent remarks on cash-for-content practices in Kenyan media, clarifying his professional standing and pushing back on being placed in the journalism space.

In his response, Obinna said that he does not identify as a journalist and that his company, Obinna TV Studios, is a content production media company whose biggest asset is digital. “I am not a journalist. Obinna TV Studios is a media company that is in content productions, our biggest asset is digital, and we use many avenues to disseminate our information. I interview people because I have a podcast. I script content, I do comedy, I do emceeing, but I have hired journalists. Don’t put me in that space.“

Obinna stressed that everyone should focus on what brought them to Nairobi, noting that his priority is business rather than seeking validation. “Everyone should do what brought them to Nairobi. I came to look for money, not friends.“

While defending his professional lane, he expressed respect for Namu, describing him as someone he looks up to, while noting their different approaches. “I respect his sentiments because he is the person that I look up to, but we do different things. Times have changed, media has changed, let’s embrace change.”

Earlier, the investigative journalist had called out the popular podcaster over what he described as the normalisation of transactional, cash-for-content journalism in Kenya’s media 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. 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. 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.”