Let’s have structure and method if we’re to gain from public dialogue

Presidential aspirant Ekuru Aukot (left) and activist Boniface Mwangi during a press conference at Roshanmaer Place on October 31, 2016. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Mwangi’s walkout was itself a fight against bad leadership; a protest against abuse of office and abuse of power.
  • PAC must be commended for dutifully pursuing the National Youth Service saga.
  • PAC had no credible strategy for drawing useful answers from an unfazed, unrepentant suspect Josephine Kabura.
  • No effort at cautioning Josephine Kabura, no attempt to cajole her, no bid to threaten her, changed the expression on her face.

We must demand ethical practice from our media. This week, television talk show host Jeff Koinange invited news-grabbing activist Boniface Mwangi on his show, only for Mr Mwangi to walk out 17 minutes into the 60-minute show.

Reason? Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria “happened by” the set and the host casually invited him to join the conversation.

There are those who see activists as tiresome irritants so social media was immediately alight with the view that Mr Mwangi’s walkout was the usual cheap drama from his kind. Some die-hard supporters of Mr Mwangi’s fierce battles against social injustice were disappointed.

They termed his walkout an act of cowardice and argued that, as part of his sustained campaign against bad leadership, he should have stayed on the show to tackle Mr Kuria. Mr Mwangi’s walkout was itself a fight against bad leadership; a protest against abuse of office and abuse of power.

Early in the week, Jeff Koinange promised his viewers a “State of Corruption” show with “one of the most outspoken voices against corruption”.

Promos of the show featured Boniface Mwangi alone. Was it acceptable, then, for the host to change the format midstream with the offhand remark, “ … look who just showed up … everybody shows up on this show”?

Granted, many of the talk shows that we watch are unscripted improvised arrangements, hence the flurry of ungoverned raised voices and spews of ad hominem interruptions.

Still, these staggeringly low standards of presentation — this lack of structure and discipline — must not be allowed to govern media practice to the point where invited guests are ambushed into debating people that they were not prepared to meet. It defies freedom of association.

Koinange’s conduct was unprofessional. The authority of a talk show host does not come from blind-siding or bullying his guests, it comes from respecting them; from talking less and listening more, from artfully coaxing guests to speak in a relaxed, informative way that will challenge, entertain and educate viewers.

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Speaking of elusive structures: The Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) is very clear about its mandate when it invites people to appear before it to shed light on matters of public interest. Indeed, PAC must be commended for dutifully pursuing the National Youth Service saga, in particular.

CORE WEAKNESSES

However, Josephine Kabura’s appearance before PAC, this week, dramatised some of the committee’s core weaknesses.

The main business of committees like these is to get invitees to talk. Strangely, incessant interruptions — even between members — and long-winded questions with self-absorbed preambles, totally blurred the lines and made it easy for Kabura to maintain her insouciant silence. How do you answer if you have no idea what the question is?

Kabura has the personality of a kindergarten teacher and the veiled nerve of El Chapo Guzman, the Mexican drug-lord. None of her interrogators had anticipated her quiet indifference, her softly spoken, well-rehearsed courtesies (“Thank you Chair, for that question”), her childish giggles, her flippant deflections and her casual composure.

Perhaps the committee was deceived by her youthful age; perhaps they had assumptions about female hairdressers; perhaps they felt superior. Whatever! PAC had no credible strategy for drawing useful answers from an unfazed, unrepentant suspect.

The Chair, Mr Nicholas Gumbo, explained to Kabura that PAC has interviewed many powerful Kenyans who submitted to the committee’s authority. He read the riot act, reminding her of the immense powers of the House committee.

He ranted, shouted, sweated. Kabura was warned about dire consequences. She was told she would carry her own cross. “Tell us about Waiguru,” they thundered.

Finally, in near-despair, Mr Joel Onyancha and Mr Eseli Simiyu sought the Chair’s permission to read some damnation verses from the Bible. No effort at cautioning Kabura, no attempt to cajole her, no bid to threaten her, changed the expression on her face. Nothing raised her voice by a single decibel.

To avoid sharing the national trophy for “Excellence in the Art of the Outrageous” with Kabura & Co, can PAC find forensic auditors and clinical psychologists to structure its questions for shadowy characters?

Praying that everyone shares your fear of jail and of the Lord, is no strategy for extracting incriminating evidence.

Dr Nyairo is a Cultural Analyst – [email protected]