Editor’s note: This is the first report by Emmanuel Turay, our new East Africa Bureau Chief based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Emmanuel has worked as a journalist for radio stations and newspapers in both Makeni, northern Sierra Leone and Freetown the capital. He is currently in Kenya doing an advanced course in Journalism.
Emmanuel A.B. Turay, PV East Africa Bureau Chief.
President Mwai Kibaki’s recent decision to approve a law to gag the broadcast media has continued to anger the country, further soiling the heavily debated legacy of the man who was swept to power in 2002 by a wave of hope for democratic reforms.
The media fraternity has roundly condemned the new legislation as draconian and vowed to fight it in the interest of freedom of expression.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, Kenya Journalists Association, Eastern Africa Journalists Association, Kenya Correspondents Association, Article 19 and the Association of Media Women in Kenya stated the law goes against the spirit of nurturing free and independent media in Kenya.
“We are firmly committed to the protection of the freedom of the press and expression in Kenya and therefore strongly and unreservedly oppose any legislation that seeks to emasculate these freedoms,” the media organizations maintained.
They promised to remain committed to “the relentless campaign to ensure that the contentious sections of this Act are either amended or altogether expunged.”
In addition to stringent licensing requirements, the new law vests excessive power in the Communications Commission of Kenya, empowering it to determine the time, manner and content of broadcasts. The law also allows the state to switch off stations and seize equipment in case of “public emergency or in the interest of public safety and tranquility.”
On Monday, Kibaki’s coalition partner Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his party the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) distanced itself from the president’s action and pledged to block implementation of the new law.
President Kibaki assented to the Kenya Communications Amendments Bill 2008 despite media protests and appeals for further discussions by his power-sharing colleague Prime Minister Odinga, members of his own Cabinet, the media industry, religious leaders, local and international civil society groups and ordinary citizens.
The president acknowledged receiving “numerous appeals from the media industry stakeholders that I should not assent to this Bill.” But after careful consideration, he decided there was nothing to worry about as the law posed no threat to freedom of expression.
But in a startling move on Monday, Kibaki’s government which last month unleashed police on journalists protesting peacefully against the bill, resorted to propaganda, distributing virulent leaflets that accused the media of fighting regulation at the expense of public morality. “Let us protect our children. Say no to pornography,” the leaflets urged.
At the same time, the government called for a meeting with the media to discuss the contentious law.
In their statement on Tuesday, media organizations called for the establishment of a stakeholders’ forum to spearhead discussions aimed at identifying and emending the offensive sections of the new law in collaboration with parliament, the ministry of information and the Attorney General’s office.
Photos: President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya(top) and PV’s East Africa Bureau Chief Emmanuel Turay.
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