Denis Galava Quits The Standard A Year After Making Media Comeback

The Standard managing editor Denis Galava has resigned from the Standard Media Group, Kahawa Tungu has confirmed.

According to reliable sources from the media house, Galava has been serving notice in the last one month, and yesterday, December 16, was his last working day.

Galava joined the Standard in October 2019, three years after his controversial exit from the Nation Media Group.

Galava was dismissed from Nation Media Group in 2016 after he wrote a hard-hitting article criticizing President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Read: Denis Galava Appointed Standard Managing Editor 3 Years After Controversial Sacking At Nation

The editorial criticized President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration and touched on the issues of unemployment, economic stagnation, corruption and poor leadership.

“Mr President, these half-measures are harming the presidency and your authority as the First Citizen of Kenya besides tormenting Kenyans. Among other challenges, it creates an impression of a reluctant leader, one who enjoys the trappings of office but is not ready to get the work done,” wrote Galava.

NMG’s Editor in Chief Tom Mshindi later wrote a statement defending the media house for sacking Galava, saying that the scribe wrote the article without consultations.

“A full length editorial, a Page One commentary or an editorial expressing particularly strong views must first be discussed by senior editors in conference as well as with the Editor-in-Chief to prepare the leadership of the company to deal with the consequences, if any, of that publication. The lack of consultation where one writer takes a strong position on such an important issue single-handedly without broad discussion and consultation is a significant departure from established procedure,” Mshindi said.

Read: Standard Newspaper On The Spot For “Killing” Musician Faith Chepkirui

A month after being shown the door, Galava sued NMG for wrongful dismissal, seeking Ksh400 million in compensation.

He argued that he was unprocedurally terminated without a benefit package despite being a permanent and pensionable employee.

“The implication of the immediate termination was that I would receive no benefits or severance pay,” Galava said in an affidafit.

At the time of his sacking, Galava said that he earned a monthly salary of Ksh800,000.