President asked to reject Bill

Media owners on Thursday urged President Kibaki to withhold his signature from the controversial Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill, describing it as the “most draconian Bill on the media since Independence” that was passed “out of revenge.”

Urging the President to return the Bill to Parliament, the owners said Information minister Samuel Poghisio was “hell-bent” on punishing the media for reporting on his acceptance of Sh2.8 million in special allowances, which the country’s anti-graft watchdog claims was handed to him illegally by the Parliamentary Services Commission.

MPs have also been accused of passing the Bill to punish the media for covering their refusal to pay taxes.

The Bill was passed on Wednesday with clauses which give Mr Poghisio powers to raid broadcasting stations, cart away equipment, determine what content is aired, withdraw broadcasting licences at will, and even restructure entire media houses arbitrarily.

At a press conference on Thursday in Nairobi, the Media Owners’ Association said that in numerous meetings with Mr Poghisio and permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo, promises were made to remove these controversial clauses.

“Everything that we have said in the name of consultation has been thrown out the window, which I don’t understand,” said Mr Linus Gitahi, CEO of the Nation Media Group and chairman of the Media Owners’ Association, speaking from Uganda.

Radio Africa

Last week, Dr Ndemo assured the public that a clause allowing the search and seizure of broadcasting stations will be removed, a commitment that he failed to honour.

Representing the media owners, Mr Martin Khafafa of Radio Africa faulted Parliament for passing controversial measures without amendments.

He called the current House “a Parliament in which members have increased their salaries without care and refused to pay their taxes while Kenyans go to bed hungry.”

He noted that Kenyans “cannot allow the people we pay to take our voice away.”

The Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill gives Mr Poghisio powers to control the “manner” of programmes aired by licensees, a vague term that could be abused restrict journalistic freedom.