Journalists vow to press for freedom

Media owners on Saturday condemned the signing into law of the contentious Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2008, and vowed to fight for the freedom of the press.

The Media Owners Association chairman Linus Gitahi said by assenting to the Bill that has captured the psyche of the nation, President Kibaki had endorsed a law that will suppress the media.

Mr Gitahi, who is the Nation Media Group chief executive officer, said the President had taken away the public’s right to know issues that the government may not want exposed.

“By appending his signature on the Kenya Communications Bill, President Kibaki has now officially gagged the media in Kenya,” Mr Gitahi said in a press statement beamed live by the various television stations. The association declared that it would not cease the fight for free flow of information.

“We are not about to give up on this fight because free media is a fundamental human right that should never be compromised for any other partisan interest,” Mr Gitahi said.

Be reviewed

The media owners demanded that the broadcast sections in the law be reviewed in the interest of free media.

Mr Gitahi said there had been no consultations between the industry and the government since they handed Prime Minister Raila Odinga a petition to deliver to the President.

“We must continue engaging the government. And we will work with all Kenyans of goodwill to ensure that democratic gains made in this country are not eroded,” he said. Mr Gitahi was accompanied by the association’s vice-chairman Martin Khafafa and secretary Sheila Amdany.

They noted that the new law vests immense control powers on the Information minister and the Communications Commission of Kenya. They said it was wrong for the CCK to be allowed to preview news before it is aired.

President Kibaki on Friday set the stage for the government to control the media when he rejected appeals by journalists and the public to return the Bill to Parliament for amendment.

The President issued a lengthy statement, which was published in yesterday’s newspapers, explaining why he had assented to the new law.

He said the Bill, which has been condemned both locally and internationally as an attack on media freedom, was necessary to promote e-commerce.

“Indeed, by and large, the regulation of the electronic transactions in Kenya creates room for the pursuit of the ideals of Vision 2030 while regulating the electronic media would promote and safeguard our culture, moral values and nationhood,” the statement said.

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