Editors give State 24-hour ultimatum
Editors have given the Government a 24-hour ultimatum to lift the ban on live TV and radio coverage. The Kenya Editors’ Guild warned that it would mobilise media practitioners if the directive were not rescinded. The editors said they had many options, including court action and silent protest, to pressurise Government to withdraw the ban. On December 30, the Government suspended live broadcasts, a day after President Kibaki was declared the winner of last month’s disputed and so far discredited presidential election and sworn-in.
The Editors’ Guild said the ban on live coverage had badly affected media houses’ core business of informing society. Reading the statement in turns, the editors said the former Minister for Internal Security, Mr John Michuki, now Roads minister, exceeded his powers by prohibiting live broadcasting on radio and television.
Mr Kipkoech Tanui, the Standard Group Managing Editor, Weekend Editions, said: “We must state categorically that the minister does not, in fact, have any such powers under the Communications Act Section 88. No such powers are given the minister as to ban live broadcasts.”
Mr Macharia Gaitho, the Guild chairman and an editor with the Nation Media Group, said at a critical period as the one Kenya was in, all channels of communication should be left open. Gaitho said divergent views must be heard to avoid suspicion or violation of people’s right to be informed.
“We will use other means to make them (Government) understand, be it legal, mass protests or both,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Media Council of Kenya has written to the Minister for Information, Mr Samuel Phogisio, over the ban.
Council chairman, Mr Wachira Waruru, said the ban was “illegal and out of tune with the powers invested on the minister as per Section 88 of the Communications Act 1998”. He said the suspension infringed on freedom of expression, a fundamental human right, and other guarantees in Section 79 of the Constitution.
“The suspension undermines the mandate of the Media Council of Kenya constituted under the Media Act with the core objective of regulating the media,” he said.
Attempt to gag the media
The council resolved to exercise its mandate and ensure that journalists and the media upheld the Code of Ethics and contributed to peace-building and national reconciliation.
The letter reads in part: “The council resolved to ask you, as the minister, to withdraw the suspension with immediate effect and instead channel complaints relating to professional conduct of the media to the council as per the law established.”
Macharia added that it was through the pressure of silent protests that draconian clauses in the Media Bill were repealed.
Standard Deputy Managing Editor-Weekend Editions, Ms Jane Godia, said the ban was a blatant attempt to gag the media and curtail the freedom of expression as guaranteed by Section 79 of the Constitution.
“As journalists and editors, we are confident in the exercise of our professional judgment of what is fit or unfit to broadcast,” Godia said.
She added: “We do not need Government guidance to do our work. If the Government is aggrieved, it should follow the right channels provided by the Media Council of Kenya Act.”
Mr David Makali of the Media Institute said the media had lost revenue and service to its audience due to the ban.
“As we speak, the fate of talk shows is unknown. Even the call in shows on radio stations are affected,” he said.
KTN’s Newsline, NTV’s Agenda Kenya, On the Spot and Kiss FM’s Crossfire have since been affected since the ban was enforced.
“We have a humanitarian crisis, widespread abuse of human rights, mistrust, intolerance and in many parts of the country a virtual breakdown of the rule of law on a scale we have never seen before,” added Makali.
They called on the Government to move fast end the political impasse, which has led to loss of lives, caused untold human suffering and damaged the image of a country long viewed as an island of peace and stability.
East African Standard
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