Kenyan billionaire Gideon Moi used his newspaper to mock Ruto and the president's allies hit back hard

The Standard newspaper published a headline on Sunday mocking President William Ruto. Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi responded on Monday by accusing KANU chairman Gideon Moi of using the publication as a personal political weapon against the ruling Kenya Kwanza administration, triggering the latest episode in a four-year running conflict between the Moi family and Kenya's sitting president.

Sudi accused Moi of using The Standard and The Sunday Standard, both of which are controlled by the Moi family through Standard Media Group, to systematically attack the Ruto administration. The UDA Secretary General Hassam Omar has previously sent a formal letter to Moi as a Standard Media Group board representative, describing the publication's critical coverage of Ruto as malicious and politically motivated. The letter characterised the newspaper as "your usual platform, The Sunday Standard or The Sunday Kabarak Chronicles."

The clash is the latest escalation in a relationship that has been adversarial since Ruto won the 2022 presidential election. Gideon Moi backed Raila Odinga's Azimio coalition in that election, putting the Moi family firmly in the opposition camp. An apparent rapprochement in October 2025, following a private State House meeting after which Moi withdrew from the Baringo senatorial race, was short-lived. Africa Intelligence reported in June 2026 that the reconciliation had broken down and the Moi family's business empire was again under pressure from the deteriorating relationship with the Ruto government.

The Moi family controls Standard Media Group, which publishes The Standard, The Sunday Standard and Business Observer and operates KTN News and KTN Home, two of Kenya's most-watched television channels. The group's digital platforms are among the most visited news websites in East Africa. Standard Media Group is not only a media business. It is the most visible commercial asset the Moi family holds that is directly exposed to the political climate in Nairobi.

Beyond media, the Moi family's interests span hospitality, agriculture and real estate, accumulated over the decades of the late President Daniel arap Moi's rule from 1978 to 2002 and consolidated in the years that followed. Gideon Moi, who served as Senator for Baringo County and chairs KANU, has been the most politically active of the Moi children and the primary steward of the family's political and commercial legacy since his father's death in February 2020.

The political conflict with Ruto carries commercial consequences. Government advertising revenue, broadcast licence renewals, regulatory relationships with the Communications Authority of Kenya and access to state-linked contracts are all areas where political proximity matters to a media and diversified business group of Standard Media's scale. A publisher in sustained conflict with the presidency is not operating in a neutral environment.

Sudi's June 7 response to The Standard's latest Ruto headline is the most recent public expression of a tension that shows no sign of resolving before the 2027 general election, when the political stakes for both sides will be at their highest.