Mary Wambui should ask for a refund from the lawyers who sold her this fantasy that Google can be forced to make Kenyans forget her public record.
The right to be forgotten was never designed as a reputation washing machine for politically connected people who served in public office, handled public appointments, sat near state power and keep appearing around taxpayer-funded scandals.
The original idea was to help ordinary people escape old, outdated or unfairly prominent personal information, not to help tenderpreneurs erase stories from the internet while new audit questions are still landing on their doorstep.
A few weeks ago, she was in court trying to bury stories about her past Sh2.2 billion tax case, which was dropped in 2023, and now the Auditor General is raising conflict of interest questions around fibre optic tenders linked to Nightingale Enterprises under the Digital Superhighway project.
That is not forgetting.......By the way!
That is Google being asked to close its eyes while the Auditor General is opening another file.
Even Google’s own right to be forgotten explanation is about delisting certain results under specific conditions, not deleting history from the internet, and European cases have repeatedly had to balance privacy against public interest, especially where the person is a public figure or the information remains relevant.
The lawyers who told her this was a clean path probably just saw a client with money and decided to eat.
Because how do you ask the internet to forget you while fresh public-interest questions are still being raised about you?
Google should not become a private laundry machine for people whose public record keeps returning with new stains.
He is deserving.
While others rated themselves highly, he kept low profile and went to work...not alone this time but in a series of international collaborations, with leading talent almost everywhere he could.
@OtileBrown